Survivor: Central Hub 3
by SSBFreak
Summary: Eighteen new fancharacters from various franchises challenge each other for a chance to win a million dollars. Only one of them will win, and everyone else will be eliminated, but who will it be?
1. Day 0

**(Day 0)**

The scene opened up as a helicopter did several fly-by shots of a large, remote island covered with trees and beach. A few smaller islands were nearby, but the main one was by far the largest. A few fly-bys later and the scene switched to the beach, where a tall, blonde man wearing a red shirt and dark red vest walked along the beach, approaching the camera.

"Welcome to season 3 of Survivor: Central Hub. I'm your host, SSBFreak." The man said. "Over the next thirty-nine days, I will be your guide for a tale of survival and competition for eighteen fancharacters, all representing different franchises. In the end, one of these eighteen fancharacters will be left standing as Sole Survivor and receive one million dollars as their prize."

SSBFreak approached a dock, where a familiar cruise ship was sitting. "However, these fancharacters will fall one by one as they compete in challenges. The losing tribe of these important Immunity Challenges will be forced to vote out one of their own at what we call Tribal Councils." He explained. "So, let us introduce you to our eighteen castaways this new season."

The first contestant came walking down the dock, revealing himself to be a tall human with slicked, grayish hair. He wore a green suit and had a confident look on his face.

**PIERRE – 48**

**TEAM FORTRESS 2**

"Pierre, you're part of the Spy class in TF2, so I expect some good moves from you." SSBFreak said.

Pierre gave a smirk. "I assure you that there is more to me than meets the eye, monsieur." He said with a French accent. "So who's on my team?"

"We'll decide that later. Go and wait until I introduce the others and then we'll split people up." SSBFreak said.

Pierre gave a shrug. "Take your time." He said as he strolled over to the end of the dock.

The next contestant caught the confident Pierre by surprise. She was a short, orange humanoid with red hair done into a ponytail, but she had a strange-looking mouth and no nose…

**CARLY – 19**

**MUPPET SHOW**

"Welcome to Survivor, Carly." SSBFreak said. "You think you have what it takes to win?"

The Muppet gave a shrug. "I think we all do at some point." She admitted with a grin. "But you can bet that I'll be trying my hardest here."

"Good to hear. Why don't you go over there and wait while I introduce everyone else?" SSBFreak said.

"Sure thing." Carly nodded as she walked over to Pierre and waved cheerily. The spy blinked, still in confusion.

The next contestant looked like a rocker-girl, as proven by her bright red hair done into a slick style. The human female wore a black jacket and a pair of earrings shaped like stars.

**LIZ – 22**

**PARAPPA THE RAPPER**

"And here we have the season's rocker-chick, Liz." SSBFreak said.

"Don't stereotype me, man." Liz warned. "I've got a lot more to offer than just being a sweet guitarist, you know."

"I know, but it'll be up to you to show that to your teammates." SSBFreak explained.

"That's fine with me." Liz smirked as she walked over to the end of the dock to wait with Pierre and Carly. Pierre looked in thought as Carly conversed with Liz.

The fourth person to come down the dock was a young man with dark hair. He appeared to be wearing a blue military uniform of some kind, complete with a futuristic helmet.

**DET – 24**

**NOITU LOVE**

"Welcome to Survivor, Det. Or should I call you 'Det Eled'?" SSBFreak checked.

"Det. You don't hear Xoda being called by her full name." Det replied. "I'm looking forward to starting. When do we begin?"

"When I introduce everyone else." SSBFreak said as he directed Det to where the others were standing.

Liz lifted an eyebrow as Det came over. "Det Eled?" She asked. "Isn't that just 'Deleted' spelled backwards?"

"Long story." Det shrugged.

Coming down the dock next was a lanky, green humanoid wearing army clothes and a helmet, all in green. To complete his look, he was wearing a bowtie and a pair of glasses.

**WILSON – 54**

**ARMY MEN**

"Hello, Wilson. How're things going at Sarge's camp?" SSBFreak asked.

"I wouldn't know. The entire cast got killed off just when the series was starting to get better." Wilson sighed regretfully.

"Well, you're still here regardless. That has to account for something." SSBFreak shrugged. "Just head on over there."

Wilson nodded and approached the waiting contestants, getting greetings from Det and Carly.

Coming down the dock next was another humanoid, although much shorter than the lanky Wilson. This humanoid was wearing a strange, blue helmet, a pair of pink headphones shaped like hearts and a dark pink skirt.

**EDWINA – UNKNOWN**

**SCRIBBLENAUTS**

"I know you're a little out of your element, but I trust that you'll get through without cheating." SSBFreak warned.

"I didn't bring my notebook." Edwina assured nervously. "I didn't want to get removed due to summoning something to cheat with."

"Good to hear that you're on the ball." SSBFreak nodded. "Just head over there for a minute."

Pierre looked interested. "Notebook?" He repeated as Edwina came over.

"Something that helps me summon what I write down." Edwina replied.

The spy looked even more interested by now, pondering possibilities.

A young woman walked down the dock next. People saw that she was wearing a strange-looking hat and a medieval-style outfit complete with a half-poncho draped over her shoulders. People noticed that her dark blonde hair was done into two braids.

**CLAIRE – 20**

**RPG MAKER**

"Claire, I know that you're a weapons-enthusiast, but remember what we told you beforehand." SSBFreak said.

Claire waved it off. "Yeah, yeah. You made me hand over all of my weapons. Believe me, I've got none left." She said.

"Just making sure. Where do you keep all those weapons, anyway?"

"That's for me to know and you never to find out." Claire said as she walked past the host and went over to the others.

"I like her." Det said. He was ignored.

The next contestant revealed himself to be a burly man with a strange posture. He had red-brown hair and a white shirt on, matching his white pants.

**MUGG – 30**

**RIVER CITY RANSOM**

"If you don't mind me saying this, aren't you a little old to be a student?" SSBFreak asked with a smirk.

Mugg narrowed his eyes. "I'm a guard at the school." He insisted. "Don't make any stupid jokes with me."

SSBFreak held up his hands in defense. "Not saying a thing." He insisted. "Go over and join the others, will you?"

Mugg looked at the host suspiciously as he walked over to the growing crowd of castaways. Wilson and Carly quickly inched away from him.

The next contestant was one that would surprise them all. What they saw was a dark-skinned human woman with jet-black hair, but the entire right side of her face and her entire right arm were cybernetic.

**YORI – 24**

**TIMESPLITTERS**

"Yori, we've never had a cyborg on the show before." SSBFreak said. "I hope you're okay in the water."

"Don't worry. My cybernetic implants are waterproof." Yori assured with a smirk, her cybernetic red eye glowing brightly.

"What do you think you'll bring to the game?"

"You think I'll say it here?" Yori asked as she walked by. "I'm not stupid, you know."

"Wow. What happened to you?" Carly asked in awe as Yori came over. The cyborg ignored her.

Coming down the dock next was the next contestant, an alien girl with a powder blue blouse and skirt. The most distinguishing feature about the girl was that she had no hands.

**FLEECY – UNKNOWN**

**BUBSY**

"This is Fleecy, and if you don't know, she's a Woolie." SSBFreak explained. "Fleecy, you're already at a disadvantage because you don't have hands."

"Never stopped me before." Fleecy replied. "All Woolies use their feet to grab."

"Well, hopefully you'll be able to use that to your advantage." SSBFreak said.

"Don't underestimate me." Fleecy warned as she walked past the host to join the others.

"Wait. What good WOULD you be without hands?" Mugg asked. Fleecy promptly kicked him in the crotch, causing him to double-over in pain.

The next contestant was a human male of average-height. He wore a white shirt with brown sleeves, a dark green headband and a pair of brown pants as his black hair spiked up and out.

**TOKYO – 24**

**MYSTICAL NINJA**

"Welcome Tokyo…Uh, if that actually IS your name." SSBFreak said.

Tokyo rolled his eyes. "YES, it's my name." He said.

"How'd you get stuck with a name like that?" SSBFreak asked. He didn't get an answer. "Well, that being said, what can you bring to the table?"

"I've got the strength and skills to make me an asset." Tokyo assured as he walked past the host. "I just need to make my team notice that."

"Seriously! Who names their kid 'TOKYO'?" Det asked.

"You're a fine one to talk." Tokyo lifted an eyebrow.

The next contestant came off as a bit of a surprise to the others, mainly because he was a shorter humanoid with a floating head and disembodied hands. They saw that he was lacking a face, with only a cross on his round head, and had a full head of dark hair.

**RENALDO – UNKNOWN**

**MADNESS COMBAT**

"I expect some strategy to come from you, Renaldo. Your franchise IS heavily-focused on outsmarting your enemies." SSBFreak noted.

"Don't I know it. I'm confident I can live up to my franchise's expectations." Renaldo assured. "I just hope I end up on the right tribe."

"Well, we'll soon find out. Just head over there."

Renaldo walked over to the gathered contestants. Mugg experimentally poked the cross he had for a face. "How do you see with no eyes?"

"Step away from the face." Renaldo warned.

Next to come down the docks was a large, muscular man wearing a black vest and no shirt. People quickly saw that he had a black executioner hood on as well.

**LUTHER – UNKNOWN**

**CASTLE CRASHERS**

"You've got some big shoes to fill, Luther. You're the strongest one here." SSBFreak said.

"I can fill the shoes of the past strong people just fine." Luther explained, standing taller than the already-tall host. "I just hope that my team sees that."

"What do you mean?"

"I saw what happened to the rhino woman last season." Luther reminded as he walked by. "I don't intend to be a repeat performance."

Edwina blinked. "Why would your team want to get rid of you?" She asked.

"This is Survivor. You never know here." Luther replied flatly.

Coming down the dock next was a young woman with dark hair. People saw that she was wearing a loose-fitting cap, a white shirt and a pair of baggy pants.

**LUCY – 19**

**DARK CLOUD**

"Considering where you come from, I expect that you have a good amount of experience for something like this." SSBFreak said.

"Definitely. You can bet that I won't disappoint here." Lucy assured. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time. When do we start?"

"When I introduce everyone, and we're almost there." SSBFreak replied. "Just go over there to wait for now."

Lucy walked over to the others and exchanged greetings with people like Carly, Liz and Wilson. Yori and Pierre looked suspicious of her, and looked at each other with questioning glances.

Next up was a human female with long, light brown hair. People noticed that she was wearing a white shirt and blue suspenders that were attached to her jeans.

**GRACE – 19**

**TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND**

"You're from TDI, Grace. That alone should give you a bit of an edge here." SSBFreak said.

"That's the hope, anyway." Grace nodded with a smirk.

"So which of the TDI contestants will you be basing your strategy on?"

"That, unfortunately, is a secret." Grace insisted as she walked past. "I can't be revealing my strategy in front of everyone before we even start, you know."

"What's 'TDI'?" Tokyo asked Liz.

"You're from the past. You wouldn't know." Liz waved it off.

Next in line was an inhuman being, but clearly a female. She looked almost like a robot, and had long, blonde hair in addition to a pink shirt and denim shorts.

**BIANCA – UNKNOWN**

**VIEWTIFUL JOE**

"Bianca, you're a Bianky, so does that mean that you're just as breakable as they usually are?"

"No." Bianca said sharply. "Don't write me off as a weakling just because I'm a Bianky."

"I didn't say anything. It was just a question." SSBFreak responded. "Let's just hope you can prove the naysayers wrong here."

Even though Bianca's mouth was a permanent circle, one could almost tell that she was smirking. "I intend to." She said as she strolled past the host and greeted the other contestants.

As Bianca shook hands with some people, Det looked at her oddly. He narrowed his eyes.

Coming down the dock next was a young man with dark orange hair that was slicked down over his right eye. He was wearing a brown jacket and a blue shirt underneath.

**KAYO – 25**

**PUNCH-OUT!**

"Another amateur boxer on the show. Let's hope you turn out better than the last one did." SSBFreak said with a smirk.

"Personally, I think ANYONE could turn out better than her." Kayo rolled his eyes. "I'm definitely going to make up for it."

"Let's hope you do. I've just got one more person to introduce, so just wait over there for now."

"Now that I think about it, you kinda look like that Bonnie woman." Fleecy noted.

Kayo sighed. "Please don't say that." He said.

The final contestant came walking down the docks, revealing himself to be a tall man with blue hair and shades. He wore a red shirt, a white jacket and black pants. A lone earring dangled from one of his ears.

**INFERNO – 27**

**SSX**

"Inferno, I know you're obsessed with disco." SSBFreak began.

"Awesome stuff, isn't it?" Inferno replied, flashing a grin.

"Just try not to drill it into the heads of everyone else, okay?"

"Hey, I'm cool with that." Inferno assured. "It's not like I parade around, proclaiming that disco rules or anything."

"Just making sure. Just head on over there to meet the others."

The disco fanatic approached the rest of the cast and greeted. They gave him mixed reactions, ranging from pleased to amused to annoyed.

"Okay. That's everyone." SSBFreak said after a quick head-count. "If you'll all follow me, I'll split you up into teams."

The eighteen contestants followed SSBFreak, over to where three mats were sitting on the beach. One was dark green, one was purple and one was silver.

"Hey! Three mats?" Mugg asked.

"I take it this means there are three teams?" Claire asked.

"You'd be right. We're doing things a little differently. Instead of two teams of nine, we're having three teams of six." SSBFreak explained. "When I call out your name, the tribe you are assigned will be your tribe until either a tribe switch or the merge, whichever affects you first."

The contestants nodded in understanding, wondering how things would be divided.

"On the green team will be…" SSBFreak said. "Luther…Wilson…Carly…Tokyo…Claire…And Lucy." The six contestants walked over to their new mat. "You six, representing the past, will be the Roka Tribe."

"Representing the past?" Carly asked. The other five members of the team looked at each other, as if sizing each other up. SSBFreak seemed to ignore her.

"On the purple team…" SSBFreak continued. "Grace…Kayo…Liz…Pierre…Mugg…And Inferno." The six declared tribe-mates walked over to their mat. "You six, representing the present, will be the Malabar Tribe."

"I think I see where this is going." Pierre said with a smirk. "This could be interesting."

"He's separating us by eras?" Liz asked aloud.

"That leaves the remaining six to form on the silver mat." SSBFreak said. "Fleecy…Bianca…Yori…Renaldo…Det…And Edwina." The remaining six contestants walked over to the silver mat. "You six, representing the future, will be the Sa'zan Tribe."

"Everyone knows future is better." Yori cracked her knuckles. "Time to prove it."

SSBFreak held up three maps. "These maps will direct you guys to your campsites, which will be your home for the next month. As of now, you're all officially on your own." He explained as he tossed the maps at the teams. They were caught by Lucy, Pierre and Yori. "In a few days, I'll contact you guys via treemail about your first challenge. Good luck, because like always, you're going to need it."

With that, the three newly-formed tribes dispersed, heading to their new campsites and starting the Survivor competition a third time.

"39 Days…18 Castaways…And one sole Survivor!"


	2. Days 1 to 3

**(Roka Tribe; Day 1)**

With Lucy in the lead, the six members of the Roka Tribe emerged from the jungle and walked onto a beach. Lucy took a couple of glances at the map in her hands.

"This is the place." Lucy said.

The Roka Tribe's camp looked like a mix of beach and jungle. It looked like the main part of the camp was covered in trees, while the beach made up a smaller pocket of the camp. A couple of smaller islands were just off the shore, but the only way to get to any of them would be to wade through the water.

"Not a bad place. We may not have as much beach, but at least we have plenty of shade." Carly shrugged.

"I guess this is when we start building our shelter?" Luther asked.

"I guess so. That's probably the first thing we'll need to do." Lucy nodded.

"_Overall, we're satisfied with our camp. I mean, sure, we would have liked a little more beach, but we've got plenty of trees to provide us with rations and shade." Lucy admitted. "Some of us may be out of our element in a game like this, but we know that the majority of the people on the Future team will have a harder time adjusting."_

"You think this is a good place to set up the shelter?" Carly asked as she inspected an empty spot close to the back of the camp.

"I think so." Lucy nodded. "Uh…Does anyone have any idea as to how to build a shelter?"

The other five members of the tribe shifted nervously. Luther scratched the top of his hood in thought.

"Yeah. Didn't think so." Lucy sighed. "We may as well do the best with what we've got."

"Luther and I can gather wood." Tokyo volunteered.

"That's fine. The rest of us can work on setting up the rest of camp."

"Well, we may as well get started." Claire sighed. "We want to get the shelter up by tonight."

The tribe dispersed, leaving Luther and Tokyo to go and gather wood. The two stronger players stood in silence for a few seconds before Luther turned to Tokyo.

"How'd you get stuck with a name like 'Tokyo', anyway?" Luther asked.

"It's my name, okay?" Tokyo replied.

"_Of course I'm not satisfied with my name, but what can I do? It's my name!" Tokyo insisted. "You have no idea how many times I get asked how I got stuck with my name back home. Something tells me my parents were drunk when they named me, because I just can't figure out any other reason I could get stuck with a name like mine…"_

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 1)**

"Looks like we're here." Pierre said as his tribe entered their campgrounds. The six players looked around at the layout.

Overall, it looked like the Malabar Tribe was a clearing in the jungle, although a river ran through the middle and there was a small body of water off to the side. Other than that, the entire campgrounds were in the middle of a lot of trees.

"Not bad. At least we've got some water." Grace shrugged.

"I suppose that's the main thing." Pierre replied. "Now we need to decide where to put the shelter."

"_Our tribe could be better, but we all know it could be worse as well. The only thing that matters is that it will be able to support all six of us." Liz said before smirking. "Mind, you the last thing on my mind is the camp quality. The only thing I'm thinking about is beating the other two tribes in our first challenge."_

"Okay. We need to set up camp by tonight so we'll be ready for the first challenge we get." Kayo said. "Mugg and I will go gather some wood if you guys think you can set up the rest of camp."

Mugg grunted as he got to his feet, having sat down on a rock after arriving. "Might as well." He said.

"If you two don't mind, I'll help out as well." Inferno said as he stepped forward.

"You think you're strong enough to keep up with us?" Kayo asked.

"Yeah. You don't look physically strong." Mugg said.

"Just let me try. I'll show you guys." Inferno shrugged.

"_Underneath my laid-back, disco-loving nature is one of the most physically-strong people on the SSX circuit." Inferno said with a smirk. "I don't want to say anything, but I've seen what Kayo and Mugg can lift. I think I can out-muscle the two of them any day."_

As Inferno, Kayo and Mugg walked off, the remaining three Malabar players looked at each other. "What should we do first?" Grace asked.

"We should probably focus on setting up a campfire pit." Pierre suggested. "After that, we'll have to work on a roof for the shelter."

"Sounds like a plan. We'd better get started before those guys over there turn their job of carrying lumber into a contest…" Liz agreed.

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 1)**

Yori led her tribe through the jungle and eventually into a clearing. Like Lucy, the cyborg looked back and forth between the map and the tribe a few times.

"This is definitely the place." Yori explained.

The Sa'zan Tribe was far unlike either of the other tribes. The tribe itself was a large island just off the shore of a small beach. The beach itself was too small to support a full tribe, so that meant that the large island, which had a few trees and rocks, would be the actual camp.

"Hmm…I can say I wasn't expecting this." Renaldo said.

"Who cares? It's awesome!" Edwina cheered. "Our tribe is a whole island!"

"_I don't know about the others on my team, but I think the camp is perfect the way it is. I mean, we've got a great view of the ocean and we've got a lot of beach." Edwina reasoned. "I know that some of the others don't like the tribe, but I'll definitely enjoy it while we're out here."_

"How are we going to build a shelter?" Fleecy asked. "I mean, all of the lumber is on the shore."

"I can carry the lumber over, but I'll need help." Yori said. "You think you can help, Det?"

Det was in the middle of looking at Bianca suspiciously when he heard his name being called. He snapped to attention. "Uh…Sure." He said. "I'll help."

"_When the teams were picked, I noticed right off the bat that I was the only real strong person on my tribe." Yori rolled her eyes. "Both of the other tribes got two strong people, so right away, this puts us at a disadvantage. If we want to beat the other teams, we'll need to hope that we come across some challenges that don't rely so much on heavy lifting."_

The remaining Sa'zan players watched as Yori and Det waded through the water to get back to shore, then looked at Bianca.

"Why has Det been looking at you strangely since you were introduced?" Edwina asked.

"I wish I knew." Bianca shrugged.

"Well, what say we grab some materials for a fire pit?" Renaldo asked. "I think it'll take our minds off it."

"May as well." Bianca sighed.

**(Roka Tribe)**

Luther held a piece of lumber up as Claire tied it to another piece to secure it. Wilson and Carly were in the process of making a roof for the shelter as Tokyo and Lucy were setting up a side wall.

"I think this is coming along fine." Wilson said. "We should have the shelter set up by tonight."

"Good. We need to get this done quickly so we can call it a day." Claire nodded.

"You don't want to rush things, Claire." Carly pointed out. "If you rush, you're bound to mess up."

"I know, but we need to get this done regardless." Claire replied, lifting an eyebrow.

"_I'm a weapons expert, so you'd think that I'm used to this kind of experience. However, with my weapons gone, I feel vulnerable." Claire admitted. "But if my tribe thinks my lack of weaponry is going to slow me down, they've got another thing coming."_

Soon, the shelter was done. The six Roka players looked at their handiwork, satisfied.

"I think it looks good for what we were given." Tokyo shrugged. "It could have been a lot worse."

"For what it does, it works." Wilson added. "If we run into any problems with it down the road, we can always patch it up."

"You expecting something to happen?" Carly asked the army man.

"Where I come from, you prepare for anything."

"Yeesh. I dunno how people in my world would act if they were that paranoid." Carly blinked.

"It's not being paranoid. It's being cautious." Wilson insisted. "The Green Army lost a lot of men to carelessness."

"Whatever you say."

"_I still don't know how anyone could be prepared for anything. I mean, if it were possible, I'm pretty sure Beaker wouldn't be in and out of the Muppet Hospital once every couple of days." Carly pointed out. "It's just not in a Muppet's nature to worry about everything. Otherwise, the show would have been cancelled long ago for being too boring."_

"Well, I say we head to bed soon." Luther suggested. "Judging by the sun's location, I'd say it's getting pretty late."

**(Malabar Tribe)**

As Liz predicted, the three strong players of the Malabar Tribe had quickly turned their chore of fetching lumber like a contest. Mugg was hefting three pieces of lumber as he flew past Kayo, whom was carrying two. Inferno was also carrying two, but it didn't look like he was trying.

Pierre took an interest in Inferno's skill and paused in thought, quickly catching himself and resuming his building of the shelter. He held up a piece of lumber as Liz attached it to another piece.

"_I have to say that I'm intrigued at the disco fanatic's performance. He's been keeping up with both Mugg and Kayo and he, unlike them, doesn't look the least bit fatigued." Pierre noted. "Being a Spy Class, I am able to know when someone's hiding something they don't want found out. This could warrant me approaching Inferno for a potential alliance…"_

"You guys don't think we'll have a challenge tomorrow, do you?" Kayo asked.

"It's doubtful. They don't usually do a challenge on the second day." Pierre said. "If you ask me, I think it's just so that the cast is given more screen time."

Kayo scratched his head. "Uh…Okay. Whatever."

Inferno placed some lumber down by the shelter. "You need any more, Liz?" He asked.

Liz looked over what they had done to build the shelter. "I think we could use just a couple more pieces." She said.

Mugg, looking tired came over and dropped the lumber he was carrying on the pile. "Is…Is that good enough for you?" He asked, short of breath.

"Uh…Yeah. That'll be fine, Mugg."

In the meantime, Grace was looking back and forth between Mugg and Inferno. Gears started turning in her head as she went back to work while forming a smirk.

"_If I have to base my strategy off of anyone from TDI, it would probably be Heather, but only to an extent." Grace explained. "I see the value of alliances and I'm all for backstabbing people I see as threats, but unlike Heather, I'm not going to be making my thoughts public. If I can get into an alliance with someone strong, then that'll give me a bit of leadway."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

The camp was slowly coming together on the island, but it was harder to get things built considering that there were only two people fetching lumber for the shelter and they had to wade through water to get to where the shelter was being built. Even still, Yori and Det continued to bring lumber to the others as they built a shelter. Fleecy was busy making a fire pit with her feet.

However, Bianca noticed that Det was still eyeing her suspiciously. Every time he arrived with lumber, he appeared to be cautious when he glanced at her. Seeing Det do it again, Bianca sighed and left to walk over to the fire pit.

"_I just don't get it. Det has seemed so suspicious of me since we started, and I don't understand why for the life of me." Bianca said, arms folded. "Well, if I find out that it's some stupid reason for being suspicious, don't expect me to take things lightly. I AM a Bianky, after all."  
_

"Have you noticed that Det keeps looking at me strangely?" Bianca asked Fleecy.

The Woolie looked at Bianca. "Yeah. I've noticed that. I wonder what's bugging him." She asked.

"You don't suppose we'd get answers from him if we asked, do you?"

"Probably not."

"_Don't overlook me just because I don't have arms. With me being a Woolie, I'm definitely craftier than I appear." Fleecy said. "Maybe I should do a little prodding a find out what Det's problem is. If anything, it'll give me some leverage in the future."_

"Hey, Bianca! We could totally use your help over here!" Renaldo called out.

"Oh! Coming!" Bianca replied as she went back over to the shelter, where Yori had just arrived with some more lumber. Renaldo and Edwina looked like they were struggling without Bianca helping them.

"What were you doing over there?" Renaldo asked as he accepted some of Yori's lumber.

"I just wanted to ask Fleecy a question." Bianca shrugged it off.

Yori, unknown to anyone else, gave a smirk.

"You see, this is what I call an opportunity." Yori said.

"_I have a reputation to live up to considering where I come from. I just hope that the others don't see me as a threat until later on." Renaldo admitted. "I mean, with all of the violence that happens where I come from, I should be used to experiences like this. The only thing I need to worry about is the others catching onto it…"_

Night eventually rolled in after all three tribes had managed to build their shelters. The newly-formed tribes went to bed, anticipating the day ahead.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 2)**

Luther pulled his executioner hood over his head as he left the shelter. The strongman gave a yawn and scratched himself as he wandered down to the beach, where Tokyo and Claire were talking.

"_Because we did all the heavy lifting, I think Tokyo and I hit it off pretty well yesterday. By the time we got done with the shelter, it was too late to talk to him any further." Luther shrugged. "However, it's a new day and I feel it's a good time to approach him for an alliance."_

"Hey, Tokyo. Can we talk?" Luther asked as he walked over to the beach.

"Hey, Luther. What's up?" Tokyo replied, turning away from Claire for a moment.

"I think we work together well enough as a team. Wanna make an alliance?"

Tokyo gave a grin. "Funny you should ask." He said. "Wanna tell him, Claire?"

"Tokyo and I decided to make an alliance." Claire explained with a smirk. "Wanna make it a final three alliance?"

Luther gave a nod. "Sounds good. I take it we're keeping the others in the dark?" He asked.

"Obviously." Tokyo explained.

"_This is good. Claire and I have been getting along well and Luther's proven himself to be a great ally. Aligning with the two of them would definitely be the best course of action for me." Tokyo said. "This is also good because none of the other three people on the tribe are especially strong."_

"Who should we target first?" Luther asked as he leaned against a nearby tree.

"It's too early to pick targets. We'd have an easier time making a decision after we have a challenge." Tokyo replied.

"However, I think Carly seems the weakest out of us all." Claire supplied.

"Yeah. That's also true."

"So for now, we'll say she's our target." Luther added.

"_I'm liking my alliance thus far. I'm aligned with the two strongest guys on the tribe and already we've got half the total vote." Claire explained. "We have a potential target now, so all we have to do now is wait to see how well we fare in the first challenge."_

Meanwhile, Wilson was in the process of making a fire when Carly came over. The Muppet looked at the trio by the beach. "What d'you think they're talkin about, Wilson?"

"Probably alliances." Wilson sighed. "Looks like they've gotten one started."

_Carly fidgeted on the stump she was sitting on. "You ever get the feeling that you should be preparing for something that concerns you more than you think?" She asked._

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 2)**

"_I spent the previous day looking over my team-mates while doing the heavy lifting. So far, I'm on the fence. I don't know if any of them are trustworthy at the moment." Kayo said. "The only thing I'm sure of is that Mugg is definitely lacking in the smarts department. I know the others could use that to their advantage, so that means I need to act first."_

"Mugg, can I talk to you for a second?" Kayo asked.

"Uh…Sure." The burly man gave a reply.

Kayo suddenly noticed Inferno sitting at the fire pit, bobbing his head and quietly singing a tune to himself. "Can he hear us?" Kayo asked.

"I don't think he's listening." Mugg shrugged.

"Inferno?" Kayo asked. The blue-haired man didn't budge. "Inferno?" He asked again, louder this time. Once again, he went unanswered. "Okay. I guess he really isn't listening."

"_So Kayo comes up to me and asks about an alliance. I think it's obvious he's thinks I'm as stupid as I may let on, but that's not the case." Mugg insisted. "Believe me, I can think my way out of any challenge. It's just that no one's really given me much of a reason to do it, so I usually just sit back and let the others do the thinking."_

"Grace and Liz should be targeted first." Kayo explained. "I think they're the weakest."

"Sounds like a plan." Mugg nodded. "I dunno which one would be best to go for first, though."

"We'd find out at the first challenge and see which of the two plays worse."

"What about the others?"

"From what I can tell, Pierre's sneaky. We may have to keep an eye on him as well." Kayo said. "Inferno's the only one I would consider keeping because he's almost as strong as we are."

"Yeah. You got that right." Mugg nodded.

"I'm glad we had this talk, Mugg. I'd better do a little more scouting." Kayo said.

With that, Kayo walked off. Inferno continued to hum a tune and bob his head, but he kept a visible smirk hidden from the two plotters.

"_You'd be surprised at what I can learn when I simply pretend I'm not listening." Inferno folded his arms with a smirk._

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 2)**

Bianca sat at the fire pit that had been set up on the tribe's island, building a fire. As she did, Det walked by behind her, still eyeing her suspiciously. The blue-clad soldier stood silently behind Bianca and stared at the side of her face, as if making a comparison. Bianca suddenly noticed this.

"Uh…Det, I would appreciate it if you didn't do that." Bianca said uneasily.

Det paused. "Sure. Whatever you say." He said as he stepped away from Bianca and walked off.

"_All of yesterday Det's been looking at me strangely and he's still doing it today. To me, this is just getting annoying." Bianca explained. "And the fact that he's not telling anyone what his problem is makes me even more annoyed. Is there something about me that rubs him the wrong way or something? I still don't know!"_

Meanwhile, Yori saw Det walk off. A smirk floated across the cyborg's face as she walked after him.

"Hey, Det? Mind if I ask you something personal?" Yori asked.

"Uh…No. Go ahead." Det replied.

"What's your beef with the blonde robot girl?"

Det paused, then nodded. "Okay. Here it goes…"

"_Where I come from, the world is overrun by a race of robotic beings called 'Darns'. When I look at Bianca, I can tell that she looks almost exactly like a Darn." Det explained. "Ever since I saw her, I've felt under the impression that she's a Darn is disguise. The more I look at her, the more I'm convinced."_

"…And that's it. The more I think, the more I have a strange feeling that she's not who she says she is." Det said. "I mean, it's possible. You saw that Minjo girl last season."

Yori gave a thoughtful nod. "You know what? You're right." She said. "If you think she's who you say she is, then I say you pursue the investigation further."

"You think so?"

"Definitely." Yori nodded again. "I mean, if that Minjo from last season did so well by playing the nice girl, how well do you think a similar person would do when they're actually pretty strong?"

Det's eyes widened, then narrowed. "I refuse to let her get away with this." He said as he walked off, leaving a smirking Yori behind.

"_You see that? That is what we call a golden opportunity…" Yori said slyly._

**(Roka Tribe)**

"_I've been in the army for who-knows-how-long and I know when some people are planning something." Wilson said. "When Carly came to me and told me that the other three people on the tribe were getting together, I knew an alliance was being formed. Thankfully, I know how to counter that."_

"Lucy, Carly and I noticed that the others have been having talks today." Wilson explained. "I think an alliance is being formed."

"Hmm…This isn't good." Lucy said. "Alliances this early in the game would spell trouble for everyone else."

"Look, I think the only way to counter an alliance is with another one." Wilson supplied. "It would be you, me and Carly against the others."

"There's only one problem with that. Two members of the other alliance are our strongest players." Lucy reminded.

"We'll just have to hope that we can win enough challenges to avoid it coming down to that."

"_I'm all for taking out an opposing alliance, but I have to say that I'm not pleased with the fact that both of our strongest players are on the other side." Lucy folded her arms. "It would definitely give me an advantage at the merge by teaming up with the two weakest players, but pre-merge it would be a serious problem."_

"Okay. We'll go with it for now." Lucy nodded. "However, I suggest that you try to get on the good side of the strong players."

"Carly's already on it." Wilson explained.

Meanwhile, Luther was carrying some lumber over to the fire pit. Carly trailed beside him.

"You need any help with that, Luther?" Carly asked.

Luther blinked behind his hood. "And how exactly would you be able to help me with heavy lifting?" He quizzed.

"Uh…I'm stronger than I look, you know." Carly insisted.

Luther shrugged. "Okay. Let's see." He said as he tossed a lighter-looking piece of lumber to Carly. The Muppet caught it and was promptly knocked to the ground, the lumber pinning her down.

"Ack! H-Help!" Carly said.

"_I still don't know why Carly insisted that she help me. I'll never understand mutant puppets…" Luther scratched his head._

**(Malabar Tribe)**

"_Being a Spy, I have vast experience in the art of scheming. I jump at the chance to get ahead when I see one, and now I see what could possibly be one of the best chances I'll get." Pierre explained. "Inferno is obviously stronger than he lets on, and for some reason, he's hiding that from us."_

"What did you wanna ask me, man?" Inferno asked.

"Inferno, I have seen you carrying lumber with Kayo and Mugg. You don't fatigue as easily as them and that tells me that you're stronger than you appear." Pierre explained.

Inferno paused. "What are you saying? You not going to sell me out, are you?" He asked.

"No. I want to join an alliance with you." Pierre assured. "With your strength and my intellect, I'm sure we'd make a formidable force in the game."

Inferno looked down. "I don't really have a choice, do I?" He asked.

"I'm afraid not."

"Then fine. We'll do it your way for now."

Pierre smirked. "Good to see you've got your head on straight. We will probably be focusing on either Grace or Liz first."

With that, Pierre turned and walked away. However, after he left, a rocker girl emerged from the bush just behind Inferno. "You think he bought it?" Liz asked.

Inferno gave a smirk. "Hook, line and sinker."

"_Inferno came to me earlier and suggested an alliance. He told me that Kayo and Mugg are going to come after Grace and I and he wanted to join with me to counter it." Liz said. "Hey, I'm totally up for an alliance if it means taking me out of the crosshairs because I'm not the strongest."_

"_Are you seriously expecting me to trust Pierre? The guy's a freaking Spy class! In case you don't know, Spies are known for their backstabbing." Inferno explained with a smirk._

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

Edwina and Renaldo sat in the shelter, looking around the island they were on. Fleecy had just left and Bianca was still at the fire pit. Yori and Det were off the island and on the shore of the mainland.

"Well, now what?" Edwina asked. "I mean, it's awesome being out here and all, but there isn't really much to do."

"We could try catching some fish." Renaldo suggested.

"It would be easier to catch fish if we had a fishing rod." Edwina replied. "We'd have to win one in the challenges."

"Man."

"_I knew that Survivor was about outlasting and outplaying, but I never realized how badly they start everyone off." Renaldo pointed out. "I mean, we build our own shelter and fire pit and they don't supply us with fire-making materials or a fishing rod. That sucks, man."_

"_It's always been a dream of mine to do something like this, but I know things will start getting better later on when the game kicks itself into high-gear." Edwina explained. "I just hope I stick around that long."_

Det suddenly approached the two. The blue-clad soldier looked back to make sure Bianca wasn't looking, then looked at the two. "Don't trust Bianca." He explained. "I think she's plotting against all of us."

Edwina did a double-take. "Uh…What?" She asked.

"I think she's a Darn in disguise. She has to be." Det said. "Like I said. Don't trust her. We need to get rid of her the first chance we get."

With that, Det walked away, possibly to tell the others the same message. Edwina and Renaldo looked at each other.

"Is it just me, or is that guy a little off his rocker?" Renaldo asked.

Fleecy came walking over after Det left. "What did Det want to say?"

"Uh…We're not sure." Edwina explained.

"Beats the heck out of me." Renaldo shrugged.

"_I wish I knew what was going on half the time. Now that I see Det sneaking around, I know something's up." Fleecy said. "Well, don't expect me to take this lying down."_

Night eventually rolled in. The three teams went to sleep, knowing that there would be a challenge the following day…

**(Roka Tribe; Day 3)**

"_We're going to be having our first challenge today, and I'm sure it's going to be for Immunity." Lucy explained. "We'll be against two other teams this time as opposed to just one, so that means the stakes will be higher."_

Lucy saw the camp's treemail box, decorated with a green, winged emblem, and reached inside, plucking a letter from the box. Lucy quickly returned to camp.

"We've got treemail, guys." Lucy announced as she walked to where the others were.

"Oh, boy! Our first challenge!" Carly said.

"_Challenges are what I'm sure I could excel in, especially the ones that require strength." Luther pointed out. "However, I can't let myself get too cocky too early. I see what happens to the people that get to comfortable with their positions."_

"It just asks how well the six of us can work as a team." Lucy said.

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 3)**

"…Work as a team? That's not very descriptive." Grace scratched her head. "There could be hundreds of challenges that force us to work as a team."

"I guess that's the point." Inferno shrugged.

"_After pulling the letter from the treemail box that has that funky purple emblem on it, we read that we'd be having an Immunity Challenge." Mugg said with a smirk. "Well, bring it on! I can take whatever these producers throw at me!"_

"_Now it's time to see how well we function as a team. It should be interesting, because I forget who some of our competitors are." Pierre noted. "A challenge will give me a good chance to stack the competition and see which people require special attention."_

"So now what? Did we get a map?" Kayo asked.

"Looks like it." Grace added as she pulled out a map that was attached to the letter. "This should get us to the challenge area."

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 3)**

"You got the map?" Fleecy asked Bianca.

"Yeah. I've got it." Bianca nodded as she held up the map.

Det was quick to take the map. "Uh…If you don't mind, I think I'm better at directions." He said hastily.

"_I'm really worried about this challenge. The challenge says that we have to work as a team, and Det is still acting strangely around Bianca." Fleecy lifted an eyebrow. "If they can't work together, how are we supposed to win challenges?"_

"_Time for me to see exactly how strong our competition is. Not only would it give me a good idea as to who we're up against, but it gives me potential ally ideas for when we reach the merge." Yori explained. "Of course, the main focus will be on the challenge, but it doesn't hurt to plan ahead."_

"So where are we going?" Edwina asked. "I'm excited!"

"Looks like it's not too far away." Det replied. "We may as well head out."

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The three teams emerged from the jungle at different angles and walked onto a beach area of the island. Seeing their mats on the ground, everyone approached them and stepped on, waiting for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your first Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will see how well you can function as a team." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a field of unopened treasure chests off to the side, as well as some building materials laying nearby. "Four people from each team will work together to construct a stretcher. They must then go out into the water with it and pick up a fifth member of their team, carrying them back to shore on the built stretcher. Once on shore, the person that was in the water will then give a key to the final member of their team, who will then race into this field of treasure chests to find one that the key opens. The first two teams that open a chest will win Immunity, and the first team to do it will win some flint as well."

The three teams looked at each other, knowing that everyone would be performing at their best for the added bonus of being the first to finish.

"If you'll all choose who's doing what, we'll get started." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

It didn't take long for any of the tribes to make their decisions. For the Roka Tribe, the quartet of Luther, Tokyo, Claire and Lucy were going to be building the stretcher. The Malabar Tribe had chosen Kayo, Mugg, Inferno and Pierre, while the Sa'zan Tribe had chosen Bianca, Yori, Det and Renaldo.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The twelve contestants quickly went to work on building a stretcher using the wood, twine and cloth they had been given. The three teams showed that they had different methods of building.

"Tie the cloth to the wood as tight as you can!" Lucy ordered.

"There needs to be slack, though." Luther explained. "If the cloth is too tight, it won't support the weight."

"But if it's too loose, we won't be able to carry the weight at all." Lucy reminded. "Just tie it tight!"

Pierre gave a smirk as he returned to his team's own stretcher. "Give it a little slack." He instructed. "We can't have the cloth be too tight."

"You sure?" Kayo asked.

"My best friend's a Medic class." Pierre insisted. "This is the right way to do it."

The Sa'zan Tribe seemed to be struggling with tying knots, as they seemed to be in a disagreement of how tight to tie them.

"Tie them looser. There's not going to be enough slack on your corner." Bianca instructed.

"No way! Tie yours tighter!" Det said back.

"Look, if all of the knots aren't tied the same way, the stretcher's not going to work!" Bianca insisted.

"Which is why you need to change the way you're tying your corner!"

"Yori and Renaldo are tying their corners the same way as me!"

Renaldo paused then looked at Yori. "Why did you let them BOTH do this?"

"Because Edwina said she couldn't tie knots and Fleecy doesn't have hands." Yori rolled her organic eye. "I literally didn't have a choice."

Claire was quickly tying her twine to the wood, making sure that her corner of the stretcher's cloth was tied down. "Okay! I think I've got my corner done!" She said.

"That didn't take long." Lucy said. "You sure you did it right? Double-check it."

"Okay, but it looks fine to me." Claire shrugged.

"Mugg, you're tying the knot wrong!" Kayo said when he saw how his team-mate was tying the cloth to his corner of the wood. "You're tying it like a bow!"

"Hey, I'm under pressure! Don't rush me!" Mugg insisted.

"Watch me, man. I'll show you." Inferno offered.

"I think I'm done." Renaldo said.

"Good. So am I." Yori said with a nod. "You two almost finished?"

"I still say that the cloth was fine the way I tied it." Det insisted. "I don't see why you guys made me change it."

"Because the rest of us tied it differently. That's why." Yori replied. "Now keep working!"

The three teams worked furiously on their stretchers, but the Malabar Tribe won out in the end. The four players from the present picked up their completed stretcher and carried it down the beach and into the shallow water. Liz stood in the shallow water, waiting to be picked up.

"Come on, guys! We're in the lead!" Liz called out as he team came over.

"I think we're done the stretcher, Lucy." Tokyo said.

"Okay. Pick it up and let's get out to Carly." Lucy replied as the four past players picked up their stretcher and carried it out into the water.

"They're getting ahead of us, Det!" Yori exclaimed. "Hurry up and tie the knot!"

"It's your own fault for making me untie it!" Det insisted as he finished tying his corner of the stretcher. "Okay, I'm done!"

However, as the Sa'zan Tribe picked up their completed stretcher, the Malabar Tribe reached Liz. Making sure the rocker girl was on the stretcher, the present tribe picked up their stretcher again and started making their way back.

"You've got the key, right?" Inferno asked.

"Yeah. I've got it." Liz nodded. "Just get me to Grace so I can pass it off."

The Malabar Tribe passed the Roka Tribe as the past team went to pick up Carly. The Malabar Tribe only made it about halfway to the beach when the Roka Tribe picked up their waiting member.

"You on, Carly?" Tokyo asked.

"Yeah. I'm on. Let's go!" Carly said.

The four carriers quickly picked up their stretcher again and started carrying it back to shore, looking well on their way to catching up.

However, a short bit into the trip and one of the corners of the stretcher came undone, dumping the surprised Carly into the water.

"Roka's stretcher came undone! They need to fix their mistake before they can continue!" SSBFreak said.

"You hear that? We've got a chance!" Renaldo said.

"Move it! Move it!" Yori ordered as the Sa'zan Tribe raced into the water and towards a waiting Fleecy.

"Claire, your corner came undone! I told you to make sure it was done properly!" Lucy said.

"I did! It looked tight!" Claire said as she got to work on fixing her corner.

Meanwhile, the Malabar Tribe has successfully arrived at the field of chests, where Grace was waiting. The carriers place their stretcher on the ground and Liz was quick to hand Grace the key. "Quick! Find the right chest while we're still in the lead!" She directed.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Grace shook her head as she rushed towards a chest and tried to unlock it. It didn't work.

The Sa'zan Tribe arrived at the waiting Fleecy while the Roka Tribe was still trying to fix their stretcher mistake. The future team set their stretcher down.

"Quick! Get on!" Bianca said. "We can catch up!"

"Right! I've got the key!" Fleecy nodded as she got onto the stretcher.

"How exactly ARE you holding it?" Renaldo asked.

"With my feet. How else?"

Grace was still trying to find the correct chest when the Sa'zan Tribe started making their trek back to shore. The Roka Tribe was still trying to fix their stretcher when the future team ended up passing them.

"Come on! We're losing ground!" Carly urged.

Grace stuck her key into another locked chest and sighed when it didn't unlock. "I need to find it. We're losing our lead." She said.

In the meantime, the Sa'zan Tribe arrived at the field of chests and set Fleecy down. The Woolie promptly gave the key to Edwina. "Go! Find the chest!" Fleecy urged. "We may still win!"

Edwina didn't need to be told again and quickly raced over to a chest in an attempt to unlock it. Like Grace, she didn't have luck on her first try and she raced to try another chest.

Meanwhile, the Roka Tribe had finally managed to get their stretcher fixed. The team loaded Carly back onto it and raced to shore. Wilson waited anxiously for the key so he could hopefully catch up.

Before the Roka Tribe could reach Wilson, Grace tried another chest and twisted the key. Her eyes widened when the key twisted and the chest opened. "I did it! The chest is opened!" She called out.

"Grace has it! Malabar wins Immunity!" SSBFreak announced. "The other two teams need to hurry if they want to be immune!"

As Edwina continued to work on the chests, the Roka Tribe finally arrived at the waiting Wilson. Carly quickly gave the army soldier the key. "We can still catch up!" She said. "You need to be quick!"

"It's all based on luck and the hope that the other team doesn't find theirs first." Wilson told himself as he went out into the field of chests to start working on them.

The two remaining teams watched in anticipation as Edwina and Wilson continued to search for a chest that their key would open. The two remaining contestants continued to run around the small field of chests, continually finding chests that their keys wouldn't unlock. Everyone knew it would be close and it would come down to luck.

However, after what seemed like an eternity, a lucky contestant managed to find the right chest and opened it with their key.

"And that's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Sa'zan wins Immunity!"

The future team cheered for Edwina, whom stood triumphantly over an opened chest. Wilson sighed in annoyance and hung his head.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Malabar Tribe. You are all safe from tonight's vote, in addition to winning the flint for finishing first." SSBFreak said to the winning team before looking at the future team. "Sa'zan Tribe, you are also safe from elimination, but I don't have anything to give you guys for finishing second." Finally, the host looked at the losing tribe. "Roka Tribe, I'll be seeing you at Tribal Council tonight, where one of the six of you will be voted out. I'll give you the rest of the afternoon to make your decision, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

The three tribes dispersed, going their separate ways. The Roka Tribe looked especially disappointed.

**(Roka Tribe)**

"_We lost the first challenge of the game, which is never good for one's self-esteem. This means that we need to vote somebody out, and we luckily have a target." Lucy explained. "Claire's corner of the stretcher was the one that came undone, so she probably cost us the win considering that we had a good shot until that happened."_

"We need to vote Claire." Lucy said. "She cost us the win, so she has to go."

"You think we can get either Luther or Tokyo to vote for her as well?" Carly asked.

"Doubt it." Wilson shook his head. "They're been talking."

"_This isn't good. I know I'm probably a target because I'm the weakest here, and we basically need to get Claire more votes than me in order to ensure my safety." Carly pointed out. "The scary thing is that we may not be able to get extra votes and we may be looking at a tiebreaker…"_

Meanwhile, the other alliance of three seemed to be having similar ideas.

"You think there's going to be a tiebreaker?" Claire asked.

"That may be so. They'll probably vote for you because it was your corner of the stretcher that came undone." Tokyo folded his arms.

"Carly's a better target because she's weaker, though." Luther scratched his head. "I mean, you're pretty strong, right Claire?"

"Well, I know I'm stronger than Carly and Wilson. That's for sure." Claire sighed.

"_Because of a stupid mistake I made at the challenge, I'm apparently a target tonight. If you ask me, I think they're just looking for any real reason to vote for someone." Claire rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm not going without a fight, even if I'm against our weakest player that the others apparently want to keep over me."_

"Claire, there's three of us and three of them." Tokyo explained. "Can you beat Carly in a tiebreaker?"

"It sucks that there would have to be one at the first Tribal Council, but yes." Claire nodded. "I can totally do it."

"Make sure you're practiced for it." Luther reminded.

"_I can't believe I'm saying this. There's going to be a tiebreaker tonight and it's the first Tribal Council of the season." Tokyo sighed as he folded his arms. "Luther and I just need to hope that Claire can beat Carly, because she's still stronger than almost half the tribe."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The six members of the Roka Tribe walked into Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Finding their spots, everyone say down and waited for the council to commence.

"Welcome to your first Tribal Council, Roka Tribe, although I'm sure you'd rather be where your opponents are and not be here at all. In a moment, you'll be casting votes to determine which of your teammates will be ejected from the game." SSBFreak explained before deciding to start asking questions. "Luther, how is your first impression of camp?"

"Not bad. I mean, the camp we got is okay, but I'm sure that the other tribes are struggling to adapt to an experience like this more than us." Luther replied.

"How so?"

"We're representing the past. Most of us are used to it." Luther responded.

"Yeah. The Sa'zan tribe's probably having the hardest time adapting." Tokyo chuckled.

"Wilson, how did you feel when revealed that there would be three teams?" SSBFreak asked.

"It threw me for a loop more than anything." Wilson scratched his head. "We were all expecting to have two big teams, but the fact that we've got more competition now makes things even harder to do."

"Lucy, your team lost the challenge today. Why do you think that is?" SSBFreak asked.

"Claire's corner of the stretcher came undone as we were carrying Carly." Lucy folded her arms. "It gave the other teams enough time to gain some major ground that we couldn't get back."

"Are you blaming Claire for the loss, then?"

"Who else? It was her part of the stretcher." Lucy said.

"Claire, how're your feelings on this?" The host asked.

"I'm surprised you guys would target me for making one mistake in the challenge." Claire lifted an eyebrow. "Honestly, the last part of the challenge was based entirely on luck, so we still could have won."

"We could have had more time to search if you had tied your corner properly." Lucy responded. "I think of it more as cutting the liabilities."

"How am I a liability? I'm stronger than you, Carly AND Wilson!" Claire objected.

"Tokyo, you've been pretty silent. What are your thoughts on this?" The host asked.

"Claire's right. The only people stronger than her are Luther and myself. Voting her out this early because she made a mistake on a luck-based challenge is entirely stupid." Tokyo said. "I'm voting for Carly because she's the weakest here."

"You think getting rid of her now will help you in the future?"

"We're bound to have physical challenges soon. We need all the muscle we can get." Tokyo shook his head.

"Carly, what do you think is going to happen tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"I don't know. I mean, there are three votes for Claire and apparently three votes for me since we can't sway their opinion." Carly sighed. "I don't like saying it, but I think we'll have a tie."

"On the first visit to Tribal Council?"

"Like I said, I don't like saying it."

"Okay. This should prove to be an interesting council, so I'll stop the questions there. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Wilson, you're up."

The army soldier got up and walked out of the hut, going over to the voting table. The green man wrote a name down and placed his ballot into the urn.

Tokyo approached the table and wrote a name down, showing it to the camera. "Your reasoning for voting for Claire is stupid." He said, having voted for Carly.

Carly scribbled a name down quickly and turned her ballot around, showing Claire's name. "It's either you or me." She said as she put her vote into the urn.

Luther lumber up to the table and wrote a name down. Shaking his head, the executioner placed his ballot into the jar.

Claire approached the table and quickly voted, but not before showing her ballot. "We need to get rid of the weakest." She said, having voted for Carly.

Lucy was the last to vote and wrote a name down, showing it to the camera. "You cost us the win. We need to drop you now." She said, showing Claire's name on the vote.

Once all six castaways had voted, SSBFreak left and returned momentarily with the urn. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Claire." Claire frowned.

"Claire. She now has two votes." Tokyo and Luther didn't look amused.

"…Carly." Said Muppet bit her lip.

"Carly." Claire and Carly looked at each other.

"Claire. She leads again." Claire narrowed her eyes. "Last vote…"

"…Carly. We have a tie." SSBFreak said. "I can't believe it, but we have a tie for the first visit to Tribal Council. Well, that's not good, so we need to fix that. I suspect that everyone is sticking with their original votes?"

Everyone remained silent, showing that they stood by their choices. SSBFreak sighed. "Okay, then. Carly and Claire, come here." The host said.

The two girls got up and walked over to the host. He directed them to two stumps set up in front of two small fire pits. The two sat down as the host gave them materials to start the fire with.

"Here's how the tiebreaker will work. The first one to make fire will be safe tonight, while the loser will be eliminated." SSBFreak said. "When I give the word, start building a fire." The two girls waited in anticipation. "…Go!"

Carly and Claire instantly went to work on their fires, looking about even as they went. The other four members of the Roka Tribe watched from their stumps, knowing that whoever won this would be in the majority alliance. The two girls worked furiously to build a fire before the other, knowing that their fate in the game rested on whether or not they could do this the right way.

Suddenly, one of the two competitors got a spark going. The castaway picked up the pace and continued to work on it, hoping to build the fire into a full flame. At the same time, the other castaway was managing to start a small fire as well.

In the blink of an eye, it was over. The fire of the victor's fire pit raged in a full flame as the loser's was still a small flame that hadn't been built on yet.

Carly cheered as her fire continued to burn. Claire moaned and sat back.

"Carly has won the fire-making tiebreaker and is still in the game." SSBFreak said as Carly quickly returned to the seats. "That means that the first person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…Is Claire. You need to bring me your torch."

Claire sighed, stood up, grabbed her torch and brought it to SSBFreak, but not before giving Luther and Tokyo a sad glance. The host held a torch-snuffer in his hand.

"Claire, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Claire's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"I got screwed over." Claire muttered as she left the hut and vanished from sight.

Once Claire was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining five Roka members. "Your first Tribal Council has come and gone, and you have opted to vote out a stronger player simply because of a mistake." He said. "Thus ends the first and hopefully last tiebreaker you guys have. We'll have to see if your choice of targets was a wise one, because I'm sure the other two tribes will be trying just as hard now. You can all head back to camp."

The five remaining Roka players stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Luther and Tokyo brought up the rear, not looking pleased at the outcome. The two strong players looked at each other, wondering if the other alliance had just doomed their tribe by voting out a strong player first…

"_I'm upset being the first one out, and even more upset that it was a tiebreaker that led to my downfall." Claire rolled her eyes. "I can't believe people would make such a big deal over me making such a simple mistake. I still think they wanted to find any real reason they could to pin the blame on me."_

**Voting History:**

**Claire – Carly, Lucy and Wilson**

**Carly – Claire, Luther and Tokyo**

Author's Notes: Coming into this, I wanted the first boot to be different from Lilah and Buzz. Lilah was positive and Buzz was negative, but neither of them seemed to have a good grasp on the game. Enter Claire, who was quick to make alliances and knew how to play. I knew Claire didn't have the longevity for the game, so booting her first seemed the best choice.


	3. Days 4 to 6

**(Roka Tribe)**

Neither Luther nor Tokyo looked very pleased when the Roka Tribe returned to camp. This was to be expected, considering the results from the Tribal Council the group had just been to.

"_I'm not happy right now. Claire was one of our strongest players and the others still decide to vote her out because she slipped up in the challenge." Luther said, arms crossed. "It just goes to show that some people just don't appreciate strength over having a majority alliance."_

"Guys, we need to talk." Lucy said as she approached Luther and Tokyo.

"Alright. Let's talk. Why the crap did you think voting out Claire was a good idea?" Tokyo demanded.

"She lost us the challenge. She was a liability." Lucy replied. "I expected you two to see that and vote with us."

"Why would we vote with you when Claire's way stronger than Carly?" Tokyo asked. "We needed her!"

"_Claire left at Tribal Council and the strong guys are taking it harder than I thought. I mean, it's no real issue that Claire's gone, so I don't understand why they're making such a big deal about it." Lucy rolled her eyes. "They should be thankful they're strong players or else I'd be targeting them next."_

"_Lucy thinks she's so high and mighty and she acts like she's the leader of the tribe." Tokyo muttered. "I'd show her just how wrong she is, but we've already lost a strong player and Lucy's stronger than Carly and Wilson, so we're going to have to wait."_

Meanwhile, Carly and Wilson looked at the argument going on and looked at each other.

"I don't think the strong guys are happy with us." Carly pointed out.

"Maybe not, but we didn't have much of a choice." Wilson shook his head.

"_It feels good that I managed to win the tiebreaker, but I don't want to go through that again. The good thing is that we have majority, but the only targets we have are the guys that could potentially help us win challenges." Carly admitted. "This kinda worries me because we'll either be taking out our strong players first or someone will flip and our alliance will end up eliminated."_

The five players soon decided not to press matters any further and went to bed, knowing that the competition had only just begun.

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 4)**

"_I've heard it through Liz that she and I are apparently targets for about half the tribe. While it's good that we've got Inferno on our side, I like having a little added assurance." Grace said. "That's why I want to find the Hidden Immunity Idol. No one's been sent to any Exile Island yet, so that tells me that the idol is hidden somewhere at camp."_

Grace read over the previous Immunity Challenge treemail to see if there were any clues in the writing. "Nothing." She shook her head. "For now, I guess I'll have to assume that there's no real clue in the letters."

Quickly putting the letter where she found it, Grace made herself scarce as Kayo and Mugg walked over.

"You didn't see either of the girls following us, did you?" Kayo asked.

"Nah. We're good." Mugg shook his head.

"So, just so we're clear, it's you, me and Inferno voting for one of the girls first." Kayo said. "I think we can coax Pierre into voting with us as well."

"Who's getting targeted first?" Mugg asked.

"I dunno. We still haven't really seen either of the girls perform much." Kayo replied.

"_Half the problem about choosing a target is determining whether or not they're the best target possible." Kayo said. "The challenge we had didn't really show if either Liz or Grace were worth keeping, so we're going to have to figure that out at the next challenge."_

"_I think Liz should be targeted first because I think Grace seems like a smarter player. However, Kayo doesn't seem to be wanting to listen to advice until he has proof that his plan won't work." Mugg said. "Hey, I'm not an idiot. I know when someone thinks they're playing me for the fool. I just don't think I should do anything about it yet because it may work to my advantage to lay low."_

"Okay. Let's go see if we can get Pierre on board with the plan." Kayo said. "That'll give us the majority."

"Whatever you say." Mugg shrugged.

After Kayo and Mugg left the scene, Grace emerged from behind a tree, looking deep in thought.

"_The odds aren't in my favour, but if I can find that Immunity Idol and stay in good company with the others, I can pull through." Grace said. "I wasn't expecting to resort to my tactics so early, but it seems now's as good a time as ever to at least get some planning done." _

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 4)**

Bianca walked out of the shelter and looked around. She quickly saw Fleecy at the fire pit and walked over, but not before noticing out of the corner of her eye that Det was looking at her strangely again.

"_It's been four days and I'm getting used to my tribe. Overall, I think I'm satisfied with who I'm with, with the exception of one." Bianca mused. "Det hasn't told anyone why he's so apprehensive around me, but if he has, no one's telling me anything. I just can't think of a reason he seems to be acting this way, because he's fine around everyone else."_

"Morning, Fleecy." Bianca said. "I don't suppose Det's said anything yet, has he?"

"No. Renaldo and Edwina apparently know something, but they don't seem willing to say anything." Fleecy replied.

"_I can relate to Bianca in a way because the two of us have one major thing in common: We're both minion races. I mean, a Bianky and a Woolie? They're usually henchmen." Fleecy 'shrugged'. "However, this also means we're both capable of some sneaky tricks. If we can't get any information out of anyone the normal way, we may have to resort to such motives."_

Meanwhile, Det quickly went over to where Yori was, off the small island and looking around on the shore. "I'm convinced." He muttered to himself.

Yori looked over. "Uh…About what?" She asked.

"Bianca. I know she's really a Darn in disguise." Det replied.

"_I know a Darn when I see one, and Bianca's trying to fool everyone else with her story of being a completely different species. Well, I'm not falling for it." Det said. "I need to make sure the tribe majority knows this, and I know I've convinced Yori. I just need to bring Edwina and Renaldo on board and we can vote out Bianca the first chance we get."  
_

"Okay. If you think that strongly about Bianca being a Darn, I won't stop you from confronting her about it." Yori said.

"Really?" Det asked.

"Of course not. If she's who you say she is, she's sure to crack under pressure."

Det paused, then nodded. "I'll do it today. I should probably wait until later when she least expects it." He said as he wandered off.

Once Det was gone, Yori turned back to the bushes she was at. "Now to keep looking for that Immunity Idol." She said.

"_And thus takes care of one part of the plan. Now I just need to sit back and make sure it unfolds properly." Yori said. "Just for the record, I don't believe Det's little story either, but he doesn't need to know that."_

**(Roka Tribe; Day 4)**

"_We're definitely going to need to step up our game if we want to last. I know Lucy would probably be willing to get rid of either Carly or me because she would have to be pretty crazy to target the strong players first." Wilson said. "However, I think I may have a solution that will save us. However, it involves selling out Lucy."_

"You think Luther and Tokyo would vote with us after we voted out Claire?" Carly asked.

"I don't know, but I know that we need to act fast if we want to gain their trust before Lucy sways them." Wilson said. "If we want to survive, we need to get them to target her."

"I don't know…Lucy's stronger than us."

"_The biggest thing we have going against us here is the fact that Lucy's still stronger than us and the boys may not want to get rid of another strong player." Carly said. "That being said, we may be able to sway them if we say that Lucy was the one behind Claire's elimination, which is basically true anyway."_

The Muppet and soldier went over to where to two stronger men were talking and made sure Lucy wasn't around (she was off looking for the Immunity Idol). The two were at the beach, trying to fish without a proper fishing rod. Tokyo was using one he made himself and Luther was using his hands.

Tokyo saw them coming over first. "You guys want something?" He asked as Luther continued to fish with his hands.

"We just want to ask if it's possible to vote out Lucy next." Wilson explained.

"We just LOST a stronger player. Why would we vote out another?" Tokyo asked.

"Lucy spearheaded Claire's elimination." Wilson insisted. "If you let her stay, she's liable to turn on you guys as well."

Tokyo looked unsure. "Well…I don't know. We'll think about it." He said.

"Please do." Carly nodded as the two left the strong players alone.

Tokyo looked at Luther. "What do you think?" He asked.

Luther finally got out of the water. "I'd say we're the swing votes." He said.

"_This puts us at ease slightly because we're apparently not getting targeted. However, we need to choose which target to go for first." Tokyo explained. "We could either vote out a weaker player so we'll do better in challenges, or vote out the player responsible for eliminating our stronger player to begin with."_

"_In all honesty, I think we're screwed either way. We vote out Lucy and we keep the weaker players, running the risk of losing future challenges." Luther folded his arms. "On the other hand, if we vote out the weaker players first, then we allow Lucy, who seems to be a smarter player, go deeper into the game."_

**(Malabar Tribe)**

Pierre saw Grace looking around camp for something. Grace was trying to remain unsuspicious with her searching, but Pierre knew she was obviously looking for something.

"_Grace is searching for something; obviously the Hidden Immunity Idol. It makes sense since she's probably going to be the first target and there's a high-likelihood of an idol hidden around here somewhere" Pierre explained. "However, I know I can fool her. I should construct a fake idol and plant it for her to find. That way, it'll keep her from searching for the real one."_

"Inferno, I could use a second opinion on something." Pierre said as he approached the laid-back disco fanatic.

Inferno lifted an eyebrow behind his shades. "Sure, man. What is it?"

"Keep this to yourself, but I put together a fake Immunity Idol." Pierre said, showing his handiwork, a fake idol, to Inferno.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Inferno said defiantly. "Why do you need a fake idol when you don't know if there's even a real one out here?"

"Grace is searching the camp and we don't want to risk her finding the real thing." Pierre replied.

"_Okay, so Pierre comes up to me and shows me this phony idol he worked on. Looks like he's planning on outsmarting the girls." Inferno shrugged. "Too bad he doesn't realize that I'm aligned with the girls, so he kinda made the wrong choice of a person to inspect his fake idol. This could actually be fun to watch."_

"Okay. I'm going to go hide the fake idol somewhere Grace is sure to find it." Pierre said as he wandered off.

Inferno smirked. "And I'm going to tell Liz about this little plan of yours." He mused to himself as he got up.

"_What can I say? I'm a Spy. Naturally, you'd expect someone like me to be capable of an idea like this." Pierre said with a smirk. "I certainly hope the girls don't hate me afterwards for doing this to them, but that's the way you play the game."_

_Liz sat in front of the camera, not looking pleased. "I'm gonna make that French sucker pay for thinking he could get away with this." She said._

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"No sign of treemail?" Renaldo asked as Edwina approached the shoreline where he was sitting.

"Nothing yet, but I imagine that we'll be having a challenge tomorrow." Edwina replied.

"I just hope we can do better than we did in the last challenge." Renaldo shook his head.

"Hey! We won the challenge!" Edwina reminded.

"Only by a hair."

"_The first Immunity Challenge was nerve-wracking because it was incredibly close between us and the Roka Tribe." Renaldo said. "That whole third part of the challenge was all based around luck, so we still could have lost if we didn't get extremely lucky. We need to make sure we're ready for the next challenge to keep that from happening again."_

"_I think Renaldo worries too much. In all honesty, I think we're in a good position even if we DID lose the previous challenge." Edwina shrugged. "It seems like he and I are the swing votes anyway, so I don't know what he's so high-strung about. It's not like he's targeted over the ones the others are focusing on, anyway…"_

"Just relax. It seems that the others are targeting each other, anyway." Edwina supplied. "I don't think either of us would have gone home if we lost the challenge."

"Yeah. Maybe you're right, but you forget that we seem to be on the same tribe as a few schemers." Renaldo supplied.

Suddenly, a suspicious Det approached the two, making sure Bianca wasn't looking. "We're taking out Bianca as soon as we can." He whispered.

"Wait, what?" Edwina asked, dumbfounded.

"She's plotting against us. I know it." Det said. "Keep it to yourselves, okay?"

Det quickly scampered off. Once again, Edwina and Renaldo looked at each other with confused expressions.

"Someone's a couple of corndogs short of a picnic basket." Renaldo said.

"When exactly did we join him in an alliance?" Edwina asked.

"_I can't confront Bianca today. I didn't get the chance. I'll have to do it another time, but hopefully I can get the others to help me in voting her out when the time comes." Det said. "I refuse to let the Darns take over again, not even in a game like this."_

"_There are times I wonder if Tricky the Clown ISN'T the most deluded individual on the planet." Renaldo scratched his head._

**(Roka Tribe)**

Lucy sighed and walked away from a bush she was searching. "There has to be an Immunity Idol around camp somewhere, but where would it be?" She asked aloud.

"_I've had no luck in finding any trace of a Hidden Immunity Idol, and the letter we were given for the first challenge didn't drop any hints." Lucy admitted. "This is just frustrating, because I know I'm going to be needing it if I end up going against people like Luther and Tokyo."_

"I'm going to need another method to help me until I find the Idol." Lucy said to herself before noticing Luther sitting alone nearby. "Hmm…Maybe I can find one easier than I thought."

Lucy quickly went over to Luther. "Luther, I don't suppose you could help me, could you?" She asked.

"I guess so. What is it?" Luther asked.

"We need to vote out the weaker players and I need you and Tokyo to vote for either Carly or Wilson next." Lucy said.

"You could have voted with us earlier, you know." The executioner noted as he stood up. "It would have saved you all this trouble if you had decided to keep Claire."

"I had my reasons and I still say it was the best choice for the tribe." Lucy said.

"_Lucy's probably looking at me and thinking I'm a big, stupid guy because that's how people like me are usually portrayed as." Luther folded his arms. "Lucy says that voting out Claire was best for the tribe, but I say it's just best for her, because I still fail to see how voting out a strong player first would be beneficial to the tribe."_

"Just remember to vote for the weak players. We need the strength for challenges." Lucy reminded.

"I know. I'm just saying that you yourself have a bit to answer for at the end of the day, so don't think that you're blameless in this." Luther said as he turned and walked away.

"_If Luther thinks he can talk like that to me, he's just lucky he's strong. Now I know that I REALLY need to find that idol if I want to last here." Lucy said darkly. "Some people are just unable of letting go of a grudge."_

"_I don't care if she IS stronger than the others. I don't like Lucy and I'm gonna push to try and get her kicked off next." Luther said, just as darkly as Lucy. "If she thinks she rules over me because she's smarter, then maybe I should just throw the challenge so we can get rid of her and show her how wrong she is."_

Night eventually rolled in for the three tribes. The seventeen contestants went to sleep, anticipating the next day.

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 5)**

"So Pierre's targeting us first and he's got a fake idol constructed?" Grace asked as she and Liz walked through camp.

"That's what Inferno told me, and I trust him." Liz replied.

"I overheard Kayo and Mugg talking about targeting us as well." Grace said. "I think the obvious choice would be to sway attention from us and focus on someone else."

"_Right now, Grace and I have half the tribe after us because we're not as strong as they are. We're lucky we have Inferno on our side, but we're going to need to find a way to get the odds in our favour." Liz pointed out. "We need to find a way to get those three to turn on each other, but we need to figure out how to do it properly to avoid unwanted attention."_

"What do you think we should do?" Liz asked.

"We need the real Hidden Immunity Idol, for starters." Grace replied. "If Pierre lets us find the fake one, we'll need to make sure we have the real one as well."

"But where would we look? You've already searched half the camp." Liz moaned.

"We'll figure something out."

"_Liz has been a good ally for me since we started, although I have a feeling we initially joined up because we're both targets." Grace said. "If there's one thing that separates me from that Heather girl, it's that I actually value my alliances. I'm not going to pick off my partners when they become useless, because at the very least it's a jury vote for me."_

The two girls walked through the tribe before Liz suddenly spotted something hidden behind one of the logs at the edge of the tribegrounds. Picking it up, Liz saw that it was a wooden idol held together with twine.

"Hey, Grace? I think I found it." Liz announced.

Grace quickly looked it over. "It definitely looks real." She said. "Let's go double-check and see for ourselves."

Liz and Grace quickly left the scene, off to find Inferno so he could check their idol. After they left, Pierre emerged from behind a tree and smirked.

"_Phase one is complete. The girls now have the fake idol." Pierre said confidently. "Now it's time for me to start lobbying a vote. Hopefully, they won't realize it's a fake before we go to Tribal Council next."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 5)**

"Yori, I think there's something we need to discuss." Fleecy said as she marched over to where the cyborg of the tribe was fishing at the edge of the island.

"About what?" Yori asked.

"What's Det's problem with Bianca?" Fleecy asked. "He hangs around you, so has he told you?"

"_I need to figure out what's going on in Det's head if I want to continue with my game. His actions are starting to interfere with mine by focusing on my partner, and that's not good for him." Fleecy said. "Before Bianca and I plan our next move, we need to figure out what Det's issue is with her."_

"He hasn't told me anything." Yori shrugged. "I'm just as confused as you."

Fleecy shook her head. "His actions around Bianca are getting creepy. I don't like it." She said.

"I know. Not the most inconspicuous person around." Yori rolled her good eye.

Meanwhile, Bianca was in the process of making a fire as Det walked up to her from behind, looking determined.

"_Okay. Today's the day. I finally noticed that Bianca was alone and decided that it was my best time to strike." Det said. "It's time I exposed her as the Darn she is and everyone else will see that she's not what she claims to be."_

"Okay, Darn! The jig is up!" Det shouted.

Bianca jumped in surprise, then spun around. "W-What are you talking about?" She asked.

"You don't fool me! I can see right through that cheap disguise!" Det accused. "You're really a Darn in disguise, trying to fool everyone like that evil girl from last season!"

Bianca narrowed her eyes. "Is this seriously what's been bugging you?" She asked.

"Don't give me that! You're planning to get the drop on all of us! Well, it's not working!" Det said. "I've told everyone else about it and now they all know your evil plans!"

"Det, what are you doing?" Fleecy demanded, getting in between Det and Bianca.

"Exposing your so-called 'friend' for the demon she really is." Det said darkly. "Watch your back around her."

With that, Det walked away, leaving the rest of the tribe looking on. Bianca and Fleecy didn't look very pleased.

"_I have no idea what Det's talking about, but he's made me mad by calling me out for something I didn't even do." Bianca folded her arms. "Well, he's the one that should be watching his back, because I'm a lot craftier than I look. Heck, I'm sure Fleecy is thinking up a few ways to get back at him now. It's time the two of us put our minds together…"_

**(Roka Tribe; Day 5)**

"So you guys are wanting to get rid of Lucy because you think she'll turn on you?" Tokyo asked.

"I know it's just a theory, but considering the fact that you and Luther are the strongest people here, she won't have many other logical targets." Wilson explained. "Carly and I know we're not the strongest, but I'd say Lucy is more likely to stab you in the back."

"_I'm really riding on this idea to work. We need to take the anger from Luther and Tokyo and shift it to Lucy. Anything to get it off Carly and I." Wilson shifted nervously. "I hate using such underhanded tactics to win over votes, but in a game of Survivor, you don't have much of a choice."_

"So you think you'd be able to get by due to stabbing Lucy in the back before she can do the same to you." Tokyo checked with a smirk.

"It's not the best plan, but it works." Wilson sighed. "Just please tell me you'll consider it, because I know Lucy will be gunning for us next."

"Okay. I'll think about it." Tokyo nodded.

"Thanks. That's all I can do for now." The soldier nodded as he decided to leave Tokyo alone.

"_Wilson gave me good reasons to think about. I don't want to keep weaker players around for obvious reasons, but I don't want a potential backstabber either." Tokyo shook his head. "I have ways of dealing with problems like these where I come from, but unfortunately, they all involve throwing coins at people and clubbing them with blunt objects."_

However, just after Wilson left, Tokyo noticed Lucy approaching from a different angle.

"Tokyo, I was wondering if we could possibly target Carly and Wilson next." Lucy said.

"I gotta hand it to Wilson. He sure knows his castaways." Tokyo shook his head.

"_Luther and Tokyo need to realize that they're in a minority, and thus would be better off voting with me rather than against me." Lucy explained. "However, I know I'll have a better chance of staying in the game if I align with the strong players, so now that I can get myself settled in, I don't think I'll be needing the others anymore."_

**(Malabar Tribe)**

"That's the one, alright." Inferno nodded. "Pierre showed it to me."

Grace put the fake idol she and Liz found in her pocket. "I'll keep it for now and play it when I find the real idol." She said. "Anything to see the look on that Spy's face when I unravel his scheme."

"We need to think of a way to get Kayo, Mugg and Pierre to vote against each other somehow." Liz sighed. "But how? It's obvious we're weaker than they are."

"The chance will present itself. It usually does." Inferno shrugged.

"_The girls need to take it easy. It's only day five of the competition. Honestly, if you ask me, they're got it made at the moment." Inferno said. "Not only do they have an inside man, but they know everything that's going on with the others because the other guys confide their plans in me, some while they think I'm not even listening."_

"_In order to gain the advantage, we need a way to split the votes from Kayo, Mugg and Pierre, because at the moment, they're all voting for the same person." Liz explained. "Convincing Mugg should be no problem since he's obviously not the brightest, but Kayo and Pierre will be the real problems."_

"Tell us if something new comes up, will you?" Grace asked.

"Of course." Inferno nodded as he sat back.

Grace and Liz left Inferno alone as the blue-haired man sat back and pretended to be asleep again. Kayo and Mugg approached and looked at him.

"Looks like he's asleep." Mugg noted.

"Okay. Remember to keep your eyes open for the Hidden Immunity Idol." Kayo said. "It has to be around her somewhere."

"It'll help us?"

"It'll help get rid of the weaker players if things don't go our way." Kayo said. "If the girls have another person in their alliance, then that could be trouble for us."

"_Survivor shows that you can't trust anybody. The most assurance of survival you can get in the Hidden Immunity Idol." Kayo said. "If Mugg and I can find it, that will give us a little something extra to work with just in case things don't go our way."_

_Inferno gave a smirk. "Seriously, when will these people learn?" He asked aloud._

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"_It felt good to get that off my chest, and now I feel like I've reached out to the others of Bianca's true intentions." Det explained. "Now all there is left to do is wait and let Bianca get voted out before she does any major damage to the tribe."_

"Det, are you sure that you've got everyone's vote?" Yori asked as she approached Det.

"I think so. I mean, I've told everyone about Bianca." Det replied.

"That doesn't mean you have their vote." Yori said with a smirk. "I say you go and tell Edwina and Renaldo about it again."

Det paused, then nodded. "Good idea." He said as he left to go over to the shelter.

"_Det's unknowingly digging himself into a hole, which is something I find myself liking to watch. He doesn't realize that no one really believes him about Bianca." Yori shrugged. "Of course I'm faking this whole thing about me believing his little story, but the last thing he needs to know is that."_

Det quickly went over to the shelter and looked at Edwina. "Remember to get rid of Bianca as soon as we can." He explained.

"You know what? You're kinda putting me off with your constant reminding me of that." Edwina shook her head.

"I know, but it's something I need you to make sure you know." Det said as he went over to tell the same thing to Renaldo.

"_I'm a big fan of Survivor, and I know what happens to the people who think they know what they're doing, but really don't." Edwina explained. "If Det is going to be so persistent with his crazy obsession with Bianca, it's going to cost him in the end."_

Bianca and Fleecy watched as Renaldo tried to block Det's words out by holding onto the sides of his head where his ears looked like they would be.

"What should we do?" Bianca asked.

"You decide. You're the one he's tormenting." Fleecy said.

"_It's time for the henchman gene to shine. Bianca and I are going to do all we can to prove Det wrong." Fleecy said. "And when we do, there is going to be a LOT for that blue-clad putz to answer for."_

**(Roka Tribe)**

"_I almost didn't think it would happen at first, but Lucy came to us with the intent on selling out the others, and vice-versa." Luther pointed out. "Tokyo and I have a choice, but we're not asking ourselves what the better choice is at the moment. We're more asking ourselves what will we paying for in the long run."_

"If we keep Carly and Wilson, our tribe will be weaker in challenges." Tokyo explained.

"But Lucy could prove to be a threat, and it seems that she was the one who technically betrayed us first." Luther reminded.

"…_Man. Can you believe that it comes down to the strong guys to control the vote?" Tokyo asked. "Usually, the strong guys are in a comfy alliance by now. Luther and I are actually forced to make a decision and that's which side of the alliance that voted against us would be more beneficial to keep around longer."_

"I just hope we can avoid Tribal Council for a while." Luther shook his head. "I've never been one to make big decisions."

"Me neither."

Meanwhile, Carly and Wilson sat at the fire pit, looking at the two strong players communicate from afar. "I hope they decide to align with us." Carly noted.

"Me too, but I think it may be out of our hands by now." Wilson shook his head. "At least we gave them something to think about."

"Yeah. We've got a fighting chance." Carly nodded.

"_Lucy's gunning for us, just like Wilson thought, so it's definitely a good thing that we went to Luther and Tokyo when we did." Carly said. "However, Lucy seems to have planted other ideas into their heads, so there's a chance this may backfire on us. We'll just have to wait and see."_

"_Being a soldier, I know when the choice of fate is out of your hands. At the moment, it all rests in the hands of Luther and Tokyo." Wilson pointed out. "If we gave them enough to think about with ideas to vote off Lucy, then we may have a fighting chance at surviving. At least, that's the hope…"_

Night eventually came around. The three tribes, knowing that there would be a challenge the next day, went to bed.

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 6)**

"_We ended up not having a Reward Challenge yesterday like we were thinking. This means that there will probably be something up for grabs at the Immunity Challenge." Grace said. "I personally hope we win this, not because we'll avoid Tribal Council, but because it will give me more time to think my plans through."_

"We've got treemail, guys." Kayo announced.

"What kind of challenge is it?" Grace asked.

"It just asks if we're ready for a scavenger hunt." Kayo replied.

"_Okay. I think this may be good for us because it don't play to anyone's particular strengths. This will put everything on an even playing field." Mugg explained. "We've got a good chance at doing this, but we just need to beat one of the other two teams to avoid Tribal Council."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 6)**

"Doesn't sound so bad." Edwina nodded. "At least the other tribes won't be able to rely on their strong players."

"I know. I'm looking forward to this." Yori nodded.

"_Our treemail box had the notification for the next Immunity Challenge and it doesn't seem like any strengths will be played, not that I mind." Renaldo shrugged. "Compared to the other teams, we've got less strong players, so any challenges we get that don't play to their strengths will be good for us."_

"Who do you guys think Roka voted out at Tribal Council?" Fleecy asked.

"Hopefully they weren't thinking right and voted out someone strong, but that's probably an extremely-low chance." Yori replied.

"_We haven't seen either of the other tribes for three days, and we haven't seen much of them at all." Fleecy replied. "However, we know who the threats are on the tribes so we often find ourselves hoping that they're the ones gone next."_

**(Roka Tribe; Day 6)**

"We're lucky that this challenge doesn't seem to focus on physical strength." Tokyo muttered.

"Will you get off that? You don't see me constantly reminding you of your stupid name." Lucy countered.

Tokyo's eye started twitching, but managed to hold in his anger.

"Look, can we just go to the challenge and hope we do well?" Carly asked. "We need to make up for our last performance."

"_I hate being the voice of reason, but I can tell tension of starting to rise on the tribe. In all honestly, as long as it takes attention away from me, I'm fine." Carly said. "Still, we don't want to go to Tribal Council again, so we'll need to make sure we try our hardest to avoid coming in last."_

"_Why do people need to keep reminding me about my name? Is it seriously that stupid of a name?" Tokyo asked._

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Malabar and Sa'zan Tribes stood on their mats, waiting for the challenge to start. The Roka Tribe's mat was, as of now, devoid of life.

"Before we start, let's bring out the Roka Tribe." SSBFreak said as the past tribe emerged from the jungle and walked onto their mat. "Claire was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

This caught several people by surprise, although it was pleasant considering the Roka Tribe voted out a strong player. Everyone remained quiet as the Roka Tribe stepped onto their mat.

"In this Immunity Challenge, we will be testing your skills in searching for small objects." SSBFreak explained. Everyone noticed a large sand pit behind him. "Inside the sand pit are fifteen stones, five of them the colour of each tribe. The object is to find all five stones and get back to your mat. Remember that if you find one of your stones, you can't search anymore and need to get to your mat right away. The first two teams to complete this challenge will be safe from tonight's Tribal Council, while the winning team will be granted a fishing rod as well."

The three teams looked at each other, knowing that it would be a rough challenge despite it looking simple.

"Malabar and Sa'zan, you each have one extra member." SSBFreak explained. "Who's going to be sitting out?"

"I will." Fleecy said.

"I'll sit out." Mugg added.

"Okay. When I give the signal, race towards the sand pit and jump in to start searching." SSBFreak said. "Survivors ready?...Go!"

Leaving Fleecy and Mugg on their respective mats, the fifteen other contestants rushed towards the large sand pit and jumped in without a second thought. Everyone instantly started digging around in the sand.

"How big are these stones?" Liz asked.

"Not very big. You need to make sure you look hard." SSBFreak reminded.

"What a time to be searching for a silver stone in a pit of sand." Renaldo shook his head.

Everyone searched furiously for the stones that matched their tribe colours. Luther scooped up a stone, but saw that it was one of the silver stones. Luther quickly shoved it back into the sand for someone else to find.

"Can't let anyone know where their stones are." Luther muttered to himself as he continued looking.

It took a bit, but Grace managed to find her team's first stone. Grabbing it from the sand, Grace got out of the pit. "I've got one! I've got one!" She said as she raced back to her team's mat to wait for the others.

Shortly after Grace got out of the sand pit, Yori found a stone as well. The cyborg was in the middle of climbing out of the sand pit when Kayo managed to find his tribe's second stone.

"Come on, guys! We're still in the lead!" Grace called out as Kayo arrived at their team mat.

Wilson finally emerged from the sand pit with Roka's first stone, looking relieved. "I was hoping we wouldn't fall behind, but now we need to catch up." He said as he scrambled over to his team mat.

The remaining eleven people in the sand pit struggled to find the right-coloured stone, as the stones anyone came across were the ones that would go to one of the other teams. As the time went on, it became obvious that people would get frustrated pretty quickly.

Suddenly, Tokyo managed to find a stone and he climbed out of the sand pit. However, when he did, he saw Inferno climbing out after him. The two men raced over to their mats.

"Malabar currently has the lead with three stones, Roka has two and Sa'zan has one." SSBFreak announced.

Just as SSBFreak made the announcement, Bianca scrambled out of the sand pit with a silver stone. "I've got it!" She called out.

Yori nodded as Bianca rushed over. "Good. We just need three more."

"I've found one!" Edwina announced as she climbed out of the sand pit.

"Guys, we're behind again!" Tokyo said.

"We still need three more!" Wilson said.

The remaining players, now down to seven, continued to search for the remaining stones, although it was getting harder to do now that there were only a few stones left to find.

Pierre suddenly found a purple stone in the sand and scooped it up. "Took me long enough to find it." He shook his head as he climbed out of the sand pit.

Luther found a green stone shortly after Pierre left the sand pit and clambered out after the Frenchman. "We're still in it, guys!" He called out.

"Okay. Malabar now has four stones, while Roka and Sa'zan are tied at three." SSBFreak announced.

"Hold it! I finally found one!" Det announced as he came out of the pit with a silver stone, leaving only Renaldo looking for the last silver stone. This left, Renaldo, Lucy, Carly and Liz left in the sand pit.

"Sa'zan is now tied with Malabar. If they hurry it up, they could win the whole challenge." SSBFreak said.

"Hold your horses, pal! I found the last purple stone!" Liz said as she climbed out of the sand pit with the stone in hand. The Malabar Tribe cheered as the rocker girl came rushing over.

"Malabar is finished! They win Immunity!" SSBFreak announced. "But there's still one more safe spot left. Which tribe will take it?"

The remaining three players (Lucy, Carly and Renaldo) continued to search, finding that the remaining stones were even harder to find now. It was obvious that things were getting even more frustrating by now.

Suddenly, Carly managed to find one of Roka's remaining stones in the sand. Cheering with excitement, the Muppet girl climbed out of the pit and raced over to join her tribe again. This brought the challenge down to Lucy and Renaldo and neither of them looked especially happy with how the challenge was going for them (not that you could really tell with Renaldo's face being just a cross).

The Roka and Sa'zan Tribes waited in anticipation for the challenge to finish, hoping that their respective team-mate would find the last stone first and win them the challenge.

"Come on, Lucy! You've got this!" Carly called out.

"Look around a place you haven't searched yet, Renaldo!" Edwina pointed out. "You'll be more-likely to find it there!"

The Malabar Tribe looked indifferent now that they had won the challenge, although a couple of their members looked interested in who would win in the end.

After what seemed like an eternity, the final stone was found. The victor climbed out of the sand pit and rushed back to their mat, ending the challenge.

"That's it! Lucy found the stone! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak said. "Roka wins Immunity!"

The Roka Tribe cheered at their win as Renaldo remained in the sand pit alone. He hung his head in defeat.

**(Later…)**

"Even though the challenge was based around luck, I have to say it was a come-from-behind victory. Roka Tribe, you guys didn't finish first, but you still won Immunity and are safe for the next few days." SSBFreak said before turning to the second team. "Malabar, you finished first again, which means that you win this fishing rod in addition to Immunity." SSBFreak handed a fishing rod to Kayo as he turned to the losing tribe. "Sa'zan, I'll be seeing you at Tribal Council tonight, where you will be voting out someone on your tribe. I'll give you the rest of the day to decide it, so for now, you can all head back to camp."

The three tribes dispersed again. Malabar looked pleased at their second win, Roka looked relieved that they were all safe, and Sa'zan looked nervous about Tribal Council.

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"_Okay, this totally isn't good. I technically cost us the challenge, so I'm afraid that someone may come after me at Tribal Council." Renaldo wrung his disembodied hands. "I feel that I shouldn't worry because of this so-called rivalry between two others, but I just can't help but feel that I should watch my back tonight."_

"I'm dead meat, aren't I?" Renaldo asked.

"Don't worry. Det and Bianca are set on voting for each other." Edwina replied.

"But I cost us the challenge!"

"That's the beauty of having someone that hates someone else. Completely blinding." Edwina smirked.

"_Being a fan of the show gives me a bit of an advantage. Not only can I read other people's actions, but I know when the best time to target someone is." Edwina pointed out. "Det and Bianca are so focused on each other right now, I don't see them voting for anyone else. This could definitely work in our favour."_

Det suddenly approached the two with Yori behind him. "This is our chance. We're going to get rid of Bianca before she can do anything else." He said.

Edwina and Renaldo looked at each other, then at Yori, who simply nodded. "Uh…Sure. Whatever." Renaldo said as Edwina nodded along.

"Good to hear." Det said as he turned and left.

"_It's time for me to put my plan into action. At Tribal Council, Bianca will be exposed for the liar she is and everyone will see that I'm right." Det nodded. "I'm pretty sure Fleecy won't be voting with us, but that hardly even matters since we have four votes."_

After Det was gone, Edwina looked at Yori. "I take it this means we're voting for Det?" She asked.

"Right. There's only so much of this I can take. Quite frankly, I'd rather keep Bianca around." Yori said.

"But Det's one of our strongest, isn't he?" Renaldo asked.

"That may be so, but I don't want to put up with this for another three days." Yori shook her head. "It has to end tonight."

"Wait. Did I just hear right?" Bianca asked as she came over. "You guys are all voting for Det?"

"Yeah. We need to end it now and we like you better." Edwina replied.

"Thank you. That's what I want to hear." Bianca nodded.

"_Det thinks he can get away with treating me the way he has. Well, he picked the wrong Bianky to mess with, even though he seems to think I'm not even a Bianky." Bianca said. "The rest of the tribe is voting for him, so I'll gladly have the final laugh in this small rivalry that shouldn't have happened in the first place."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The six members of Sa'zan walked into Tribal Council, carrying their lit torches. Finding their seats on the six stumps, everyone sat down and waited for the council to commence.

"Welcome to your first Tribal Council, Sa'zan Tribe. In a moment, you'll be casting votes and voting one of your own off the island and out of the game." SSBFreak said before starting to ask questions. "Edwina, you seem to be a big fan of the show. How do you like it so far?"

"It's awesome! It's everything I ever hoped it to be!" Edwina nodded with a grin. "I love our camp and I know the experience will be awesome!"

"You LOVE our camp? It's just a big island off the shore." Renaldo asked.

"I know! It's so cool!"

"Fleecy, how are you able to perform challenges with no hands?" SSBFreak asked.

"Don't keep writing me off. All Woolies have no hands. They use their feet and I'm no exception." Fleecy pointed out. "I can use my feet as hands just as well as the others use their hands, so I don't think I'm really at a disadvantage."

"We haven't really seen much of it yet."

"Because we haven't had any challenges that really show that." Fleecy replied.

"Renaldo, you seemed to cost your team the challenge." SSBFreak said. "Are you a target tonight?"

"Not that I know of, but you never know with Survivor. You need to keep watching your back just in case there's someone about to stab you." Renaldo replied.

"Who are the targets then?"

"Bianca and Det, from what I hear."

"Bianca, why are you a target?" SSBFreak asked.

"Det seems to think that I'm not who I say I am and has been lobbying for my elimination since we started." Bianca folded her arms. "I don't really know what he's smoking to think that, but I can't seem to reason with him."

"Are you who you say you are?"

"Of course I am! I saw what happened to that evil girl last season!" Bianca said. "Do you think I want to have the same strategy as her?"

"Det, what's your reasoning behind Bianca?"

"That she's really a Darn in disguise, plotting against all of us secretly." Det said, eyes narrowed. "She claims to be a different species, but she looks exactly like a Darn. There's no other possibility."

"You've obviously never heard of a Bianky before." SSBFreak noted.

"Not you too! She's getting to everyone!"

"I keep telling you that you're completely crazy!" Bianca countered. "I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"It doesn't matter. I have the majority." Det shook his head.

"Yori, how do you think the vote will go tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"You never know. We have to think about how the choice will affect us in the future." Yori replied. "Right now, I think the majority of the tribe should be voting for the person that will just make the tribe worse-off. I know who's getting my vote, but I can't speak for the others."

"Okay. I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Renaldo, you're up."

Renaldo stood up and left the hut to go to the voting table. He quickly scribbled a name down and shoved it into the urn without second guessing.

Bianca wrote down a name and turned her ballot around. "This will get you to leave me alone for sure." She said, having voted for Det.

Yori gave a smirked as she wrote a name down. "Now the fun begins." She said as she placed her vote into the jar and left the table.

Edwina wasted no time in voting and put her ballot into the urn. "Easiest choice ever." She said as she went back to the hut.

Det wrote his vote down and showed it to the camera, revealing Bianca's name. "You don't fool me, and clearly no one else, either." He said with a smirk.

Fleecy used her foot to write a name down, but she still managed to do it and make her writing look normal. Picking the ballot up with her feet, Fleecy put it into the urn.

Once all six players had voted, SSBFreak left the hut and returned with the urn moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Bianca." Bianca cast a glare at Det.

"Det." Det cast the glare right back.

"Det." The blue-clad soldier knew who had voted there and glanced at Fleecy.

"Bianca. We're tied at two." This seemed to take the majority of the tribe off-guard.

"…Det." Det's eyes suddenly widened in surprise, not expecting that. "Last vote and second person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Det. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"But…But why?" Det asked as he stood up. "She's the evil one! Not me! Why would you all vote me off and not her?"

"Det, that's enough. Your torch, please." The host repeated.

Det sighed as he grabbed his torch and stalked up to the host, who had the snuffer in his hands.

"Det, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Det's flame. "It's time for you to go."

"This was the biggest mistake you guys could make!" Det called out as he left Tribal Council.

Once Det was gone, SSBFreak looked at the remaining five Sa'zan players. "And so ends your first Tribal Council, where you have decided to vote out a delusional player despite him being strong. There are obvious pluses and minuses to that idea, but I can't tell you which outweighs which." He explained. "We'll have to see if you made the right decision at the next challenge, but we won't be finding that out for a bit. You can all head back to camp."

The Sa'zan Tribe stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Bianca brought up the rear, looking in thought. While she was pleased that her enemy was gone, she couldn't help but wonder who that second vote for her was from. From what she heard, everyone on the tribe was voting for Det. Someone was lying…

"_I can't believe they would vote me out over that Darn. It doesn't make any sense. She's going to let them play into her hands and they don't even realize it." Det said. "There's no way I could have been wrong about her. I know she's evil, but the others obviously didn't see it that way, even though I can't understand how."_

**Voting History:**

**Det – Bianca, Edwina, Fleecy and Renaldo**

**Bianca – Det and Yori**

Author's Notes: I had very little plans for Det when I cast him. In fact, he was one of the last ones I cast. His entire purpose was to continue the stories of some of his tribe-mates, but he was always going to be first-off for his tribe, so it's not like it really affected him in any way.


	4. Days 7 to 8

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"That wasn't as intense as I thought it would be." Edwina scratched her head. "Maybe it's because we all knew he was going."

"Except himself, apparently." Fleecy added.

"_Now that Det's gone, things are going to be a lot nicer around camp. Voting him out feels so great considering what he said to me." Bianca said. "That being said, someone else voted for me when I assumed it would be a unanimous vote. We need to find out who it was, because that means that the person can't be trusted."_

"You have any ideas who the other vote for me could have been from?" Bianca asked Fleecy as the tribe returned to camp.

"No. In all honesty, it could be any of the other three." Fleecy replied. "Once we find out who that second person is, we should vote them out next."

"_We have three potential people who could have tried to keep Det, and they all seem like possible suspects." Fleecy explained. "Edwina's a fan of the show, meaning she may try to keep the goats around longer, while Yori hung around Det a lot. We don't suspect Renaldo yet, but he that may be his plan."_

"Feels good to get rid of him, doesn't it?" Yori asked as she approached Bianca.

"Definitely." Bianca said. "You voted for him, did you?"

"Of course. I don't know where that second vote came from, but we'll find out." Yori assured.

"But who could it have been?" Bianca pondered.

"_I voted for Bianca even though I knew it wouldn't do anything because I wanted to have a future goat to pin blame on." Yori said. "I need to make sure I don't get targeted, and if I have to cast some blame onto someone else, I'm not afraid to do it."_

"_I'm a little skeptical about what Yori told us. She seemed to approach us and deny voting for Bianca pretty quickly." Fleecy said suspiciously. "I'd better keep an eye on her without letting her know what I'm doing. The last thing I want to do is paint a target on my back for nothing."_

"I suggest we just head to bed for now. We'll need to be prepared for the next challenge." Fleecy said.

Everyone agreed and went to bed, knowing that the competition was only just beginning.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 7)**

"_We won Immunity yesterday, which is a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. However, if we're going to do better, we need to make sure we win the next challenges." Tokyo said. "Plus, it gives us a little more time to choose out targets, considering that we don't want a repeat performance of what happened last time we went to Tribal Council."_

"Who do you think we should take out?" Tokyo asked.

"Lucy. Definitely Lucy." Luther replied.

"But she's stronger than the others."

"She also thinks she's the tribe leader." Luther said. "I don't seem to recall putting her in charge."

"Me neither."

"_Lucy thinks she can order us around and get us to vote with her whenever she wants. Well, that ain't working for me." Luther folded his arms. "I don't like to be pulled around like a dog, and if Lucy thinks she can get away with trying to do it to me anyway, she'll be in for a big surprise."_

"I say we target Carly and Wilson first. I don't think we can afford to lose another strong player yet." Tokyo suggested.

"Lucy isn't THAT much stronger than the others." Luther insisted. "I think we should just get rid of her before we regret it down the road."

As Tokyo and Luther bickered back and forth, Carly and Wilson sat aside, watching them.

Carly scratched her head. "Should we feel at least relieved that they haven't decided to go against us?" She asked.

"For now, I suppose." Wilson said. "I'm not about to approach those two during an argument, though."

"_Carly and I are hoping the strong guys come through for us, but there's not much we can do when they're arguing about who to target." Wilson said. "It's hard enough getting through to an angry person, but try doing it when you know both of the people in the argument are much stronger than you."_

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 7)**

"_Making that fake idol for the girls to find was a good move on my part, but I've been searching for the real one since and I can't find heads or tails of it." Pierre shook his head. "In order for my plan to work, I'm going to need the real idol. It's just that we're not given any clues as to where it is."_

"Still looking for the real idol?" Inferno asked as he walked over to where Pierre was searching through a couple of bushes.

"This is strange. I can't seem to find it." Pierre noted.

"You searching the areas Grace hasn't looked?" Inferno asked.

"I'm positive she hasn't looked around here yet and I still can't seem to find anything."

"_I know I can trust Pierre to tell me the truth because he thinks I'm loyal to him. This way, I know for sure he hasn't found the idol yet." Inferno pointed out. "But still, this is weird. The entire camp has been searched by at least two people and there's still no sign of the idol. I wonder if Kayo and Mugg got to it first…"_

Inferno left Pierre to his searching and quickly went over to Grace and Liz. "He's still searching for the idol." He explained. "From what I can tell, he's been looking everywhere you girls haven't."

"So where could it be?" Liz asked. "You think the other guys found it?"

"I was thinking that, but I don't know." Inferno shook his head. "I haven't seen Kayo searching a lot and Mugg's…Well…Mugg."

"We'll have to assume that the idol's still around for now." Grace folded her arms.

"What should we do about Pierre's fake one, though?" Liz asked.

"I'll think of something…"

"_We're a little worried that the idol may have already been found, but we're going to have to run with the hope that it's still yet to be located." Liz rubbed her head nervously. "Man, I can't believe how tense this is. We need to find that idol before the others can get their hands on it, but we just don't know where we haven't looked yet."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 7)**

"How're you feeling, Bianca?" Fleecy asked as Bianca came over to where she was sitting.

"A lot better." Bianca nodded. "Although it's still unsettling that someone else on the tribe tried to keep Det."

"I have my suspicions." Fleecy noted.

"Want to tell me anything?"

"Not until I know for sure, no."

"_Bianca and I are in this together, but I need to keep my suspicions of Yori secret from her until I have more concrete proof that she voted for Bianca." Fleecy explained. "It may seem a little out of line to keep secrets from an alliance member, but I can't take any chances. If I'm right and no one believes it, I'll get targeted for sure."_

Yori came over to where the two girls were and sat down with them. "Who do you think could have voted to keep Det?" She asked. "It's either Edwina or Renaldo."

"I can't picture Edwina voting to keep Det. She's the fan, so I would think she'd try to make things more enjoyable." Bianca suggested.

"Then we'll assume Renaldo did it for the time being." Yori nodded.

"_I need my tribe to count on me because I'm the strongest left. I got everyone to vote out our second-strongest, meaning they'll have to rely on me even more." Yori explained. "I Need someone to blame for Det's elimination, and since Edwina doesn't seem a likely candidate, Renaldo is the only other option, not that it matters in the end."_

"So what now?" Bianca asked. "We obviously need to avoid Tribal Council again, so we should remember to keep ourselves ready for any of the challenges."

"I know, but it doesn't hurt to have a backup plan when things don't go as planned." Yori instructed.

"I take it that's how you became a cyborg?" Fleecy asked, lifting an eyebrow in suspicion.

"You might say that."

"_At the moment, we'll assume that Renaldo is the one that tried to keep Det. I don't want to assume anything, because I need to start planning against someone and I don't want it to be the wrong person." Bianca explained. "For now, the only one on my tribe I can completely trust is Fleecy, and even then I think she's hiding something from me."_

**(Roka Tribe)**

Lucy tried to block out the sounds of Luther and Tokyo's little argument about targets as she continued to search for the Hidden Immunity Idol. She would have gone over to try and appeal to the strongmen, but knew that it would be a lost cause during an argument.

"Hmm…Still no sign of the idol." Lucy said to herself as she stepped away from a bush. "This makes no sense. I've searched everywhere."

"_The only other possibility I can gather from the fact that I haven't found the idol yet is that perhaps they haven't hidden it yet." Lucy reasoned. "I feel like I've been searching through the camp for the last number of days, and I somehow get the feeling that I'll probably feel like an idiot when I find out where the idol actually IS."_

Carly watched Lucy search for the idol, seeing how determined she was. Knowing she'd need the idol more than Lucy, Carly opted to search for the idol off on her own and started around the shelter.

Wilson saw Carly from his spot at the fire pit and got up, walking over to her. "You trying to find the idol as well?" He asked.

"Let's face it, Wilson. We both need the idol more than Lucy right now." Carly replied. "If it hasn't been found yet, we need to find it before she does."

Wilson appeared to be in thought. "Actually, I think I may have an idea." He said with a smirk.

"_My experience in the field has helped me excel in the art of making decoys." Wilson said, holding a fake idol he had just constructed in front of the camera. "This idol's fake, but I know it would fool the casual observer into thinking its real. If we can fool Lucy into thinking it's the real McCoy, then it keeps her from actually searching for it."_

"Wow. That thing looks so real." Carly said in awe, careful not to say it too loud. "You think we can get her to fall for it?"

"She's been searching for so long I think she'll take whatever she finds without second-guessing." Wilson smirked.

"_I know it's not a real idol, but it's still a small reprieve for us. If Lucy stops looking for the real idol, we could find it." Carly explained. "It's good to know that you've still got a chance in the game despite being weak. Normally, you'd think that the weaker player would be dead meat the instant they go to Tribal Council."_

**(Malabar Tribe)**

"Hey, Mugg. Can you come here for a second?" Inferno asked as he held onto a corner of the shelter roof.

The burly man came over and looked at the disco fanatic. "Yeah? What is it?" Mugg asked.

"I think this corner of the shelter is a little loose. Want to help me with it?"

Mugg gave a shrug. "Sure." He said as he walked over and held onto the shelter's corner as Inferno tied it tighter.

"_How could I say no? He wanted me to lend my strengths to help him accomplish something and I like to show off." Mugg smirked. "The job was done quickly, but hey, I got to show him that I'm useful around here. Maybe it could make him take me further into the game."_

After a couple of seconds of silence, Inferno spoke up. "You guys haven't found any idols yet, have you?" He asked.

Mugg, still holding onto the corner, shook his head. "Nah. We haven't come across anything yet." He replied absent-mindedly. "We don't know where it is, but we just wanna find it before the girls do."

"That's what I figured." Inferno shrugged as he finished tying the corner of the roof tighter. "Thanks, Mugg."

"Anytime." Mugg said as he wandered off.

_Inferno removed his shades and polished them off before replacing them. "It doesn't take a lot to preoccupy that guy's mind, and when I do, it's dead easy to get him to talk." He said casually. "I actually loosened that corner of the shelter's roof myself just so I could get him to help me tighten it again."_

Inferno brushed his hands off as he approached the fire pit, where Grace and Liz were sitting, stunned at the scene they had just witnessed.

"Good enough for you guys?" Inferno asked.

"Works for me." Liz shrugged.

"I guess he and Kayo haven't found it, either." Grace replied.

"_Okay. Now that we know the idol hasn't been found yet, we can rest easy knowing that there's still a chance for us." Grace pointed out. "It doesn't help us find the idol, but at least it'll give us a chance for later on."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"I wonder why Yori's talking to Bianca and Fleecy…" Edwina said as she watched the fire pit from the shoreline.

"I thought you said you figured Yori voted for Bianca." Renaldo pointed out.

"I KNOW she did. You voted for Det, right?"

"Of course."

"_I knew almost right after we got back from Tribal Council that Yori was the second vote for Bianca, but we never paid it much attention." Edwina said. "The next thing we know, Yori's talking to the girl she voted for. If there's one thing I know from watching Survivor, it's that people are always looking for scapegoats…"_

"She's telling them one of us did it." Edwina folded her arms. "She has to be."

"Man! If that's right, how are we supposed to get out of it?" Renaldo asked. "She's probably already getting them to vote against us!"

"Don't be such a pessimist. If we can find the Hidden Immunity Idol or hold off the losses until a Tribal Switch, we've got a fighting chance." Edwina said.

"But that'll be near-impossible!"

"_I know I may not exactly sound like an optimist, but what do you expect? It's pretty much 3-2 unless a miracle happens!" Renaldo insisted. "All I can do is hope that we can win all of the remaining challenges until some sort of Tribal Switch, because I know I'll probably be the goat before Edwina."_

"So what do you think we should do about this? Try to find the idol?" Renaldo asked.

"That's right. If we can find it, it'll keep us alive, hopefully until we can convince the others we didn't betray them." Edwina said.

"But where do we look?"

"Let's try over by the shelter."

"_You'd think that being a major fan of Survivor would help me know the best hiding places for Immunity Idols. Apparently not." Edwina scratched her head. "I just don't know what we're missing, because I still can't find the idol even after I've searching in all the hiding places I can think of."_

Eventually, night rolled in. The three teams went to bed, knowing that a challenge would await them the following day.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 8)**

"_Luther and I still haven't really come to an agreement on targets. He wants to vote emotionally and I want to vote strategically." Tokyo rubbed his temples. "When it comes down to it, one of us is going to have to fold, but we're both so stubborn that we're almost daring each other to fold first."_

"Did we get treemail?" Tokyo asked as Carly came over with a letter.

"Yeah. Looks like we've got another Immunity Challenge." Carly said.

"Already?"

"Yeah. From the looks of things, it could be a strength-based challenge." Carly replied.

"Just freaking great."

"_It's times like this that makes me regret voting out Claire. We could have really used her for challenges like these." Carly said. "We just going to have to hope that we can do well and that the challenge doesn't rely solely on physical strength. We may still have a chance so long as Tokyo and Luther aren't the only ones really playing."_

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 8)**

"It just says 'How hard can you hit'?" Liz pointed out as her tribe gathered around her.

"Fantastic. This could be our challenge." Mugg said with a smirk.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Mugg. The other tribes have strong players as well." Kayo pointed out.

"_We can't let ourselves get cocky. Even though there are a number of strong people on our tribe, the Sa'zan Tribe has someone as strong as us and the Roka Tribe has TWO people even STRONGER." Kayo folded his arms. "If we're going to win this challenge, we need to make sure we play it right."_

"We should probably head out. Remember not to underestimate our opponents since we haven't gone against them much yet." Inferno instructed.

"Yeah. This could show us who to look out for." Kayo agreed.

"_A strength-based Immunity Challenge may not seem bad, especially since the Roka Tribe dumped a strong player first." Inferno pointed out. "However, since neither of the challenges we've had thus far have truly relied on strength, we don't know if anyone is holding out on us until now. Hopefully, we'll know who to look out for after this."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 8)**

"We got a map to take us to the challenge, right?" Edwina asked.

"Looks like it." Bianca replied.

"I'm not looking forward to this." Renaldo moaned. "Yori's the only real strong person we have."

"_Having a strength challenge when you only have one strong person is never a good thing. I can tell that this challenge is going to be rough." Renaldo said. "I know I should wait and see what type of challenge it's going to be, but I can't help but worry that we're going to get owned out there."_

"We'd better get going. We don't want to keep our competition waiting, you know." Fleecy said.

"Hopefully, this works out for us." Edwina said.

"_I think we're underestimating ourselves. I'm fairly strong myself, at least in comparison to the others." Bianca insisted with a shrug. "We may have a better chance at this than we realize, but we need to see that so we'll try our hardest in the challenge."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Roka and Malabar Tribes stood on their mats in the middle of a large clearing, waiting for the challenge to start. Sa'zan's mat was currently empty.

"Before we start, let's bring out the Sa'zan Tribe." SSBFreak said as the future team entered the clearing and walked over to their mat. The other tribes saw who wasn't with them. "Det was voted out at Tribal Council."

A few people were surprised to see that another stronger player had left so early, but the majority of the other players looked indifferent as they waited for the challenge to begin.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Today, we'll be testing your strength against your opponents." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a large, square platform behind the host, making it look like an arena. "One person from each team will face off in a three-way fight each round, armed with sacks to hit your opponents with. The object is to obviously knock both of your opponents off the platform to score a point for your team. Whoever has the most points at the end of five round will win Immunity and be safe from elimination tonight, but BOTH of the losing tribes will be seeing me at Tribal Council tonight, where a total of two people will be voted out."

The three tribes looked at each other, knowing the stakes were as high as they've ever been in the game thus far.

"Malabar, you have one extra player. Who's sitting out?" SSBFreak asked.

"I will." Grace said.

"Okay. Will everyone else please choose their order of players?"

**(Later…)**

Lucy, Kayo and Renaldo stood on the platform, each armed with a sack. The three each stood at a side of the square arena.

"First round is Lucy vs. Kayo vs. Renaldo." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

The three rushed each other and attacked with their weighted sacks. As Kayo was holding off Renaldo, Lucy saw an opening in the boxer's defenses and swung.

However, Kayo saw the attack coming and forced Renaldo away from him in time to counter Lucy's attack, stunning her and sending her backwards a couple of steps. Kayo finished Lucy off by ramming her off the side of the platform.

"And Kayo takes out Lucy."

Renaldo saw his chance when Kayo had his back turned and rushed at the boxer. Kayo quickly sidestepped and allowed Renaldo to throw himself off the platform, almost landing directly on Lucy.

"Kayo wins round 1. Malabar gains the first point." SSBFreak announced.

"Next time, try a different strategy when facing a boxer." Kayo taunted his downed opponents.

**(Later…)**

Tokyo, Mugg and Yori were up next. The three looked at each other, as if determining who the first target would be.

"Second round is Tokyo vs. Mugg vs. Yori." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Mugg acted first and raced at Tokyo. As Yori stood back, the two men struggled with each other before Tokyo managed to push Mugg away.

Shaking his head, Mugg narrowed his eyes. "I'd like to see you try that-"

Before Mugg could finish his sentence, Tokyo clocked him with a swing of his weapon, knocking the burly man off the platform.

"Mugg is out. It's down to Tokyo and Yori."

Yori quickly rushed at Tokyo, who saw her coming and blocked her attack. He managed to hold her off for a bit, but the struggle with Mugg had drained him of a lot of energy. This made Tokyo easy pickings for Yori to force off the platform.

"Yori wins round 2. Sa'zan scores a point to tie it up with Malabar." SSBFreak announced.

"You'll never beat me like that." Yori taunted Tokyo.

**(Later…)**

Wilson, Liz and Bianca stood on the platform. The three, knowing this round could go any way, prepared to start.

"Third round is Wilson vs. Liz vs. Bianca." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Liz and Bianca wasted no time in running over to Wilson and ramming him together. Wilson tried to hold the girls off, but couldn't hold for very long as was pushed off the platform.

"Wilson is taken out in a plan of double-teaming."

Liz quickly acted and swung her weapon at the unprepared Bianca, but the bianky ducked under the swing and pushed Liz back with her own weapon. Liz tried to maintain balance on the edge of the platform, but one more attack from Bianca finished her off.

"Bianca wins round 3. Sa'zan now has two points."

"Sweet. We're ahead." Bianca nodded.

**(Later…)**

The next group up was Luther, Inferno and Edwina. Needless to say, Edwina didn't like her chances.

"Fourth round is Luther vs. Inferno vs. Edwina." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Luther and Inferno quickly rushed each other and started trading blows. Edwina stood back, protecting herself with her weapon.

"Maybe if I stand still, they won't notice me." Edwina muttered to herself.

Inferno swung his sack, but Luther stepped back and allowed the attack to miss. While Inferno was recovering from his own attack, Luther shoved him back, ramming Inferno off the platform.

"Inferno is down after a heated battle."

Luther walked over to where Edwina was standing and silently towered over her, shrouding her almost completely in his shadow. Edwina looked up at Luther, then quickly turned and jumped off the platform.

"Luther wins round 4 and scores Roka's first point." SSBFreak said.

"Why'd you stick Edwina against me, anyway?" Luther asked.

**(Later…)**

The last group consisted of Carly, Pierre and Fleecy. Fleecy was holding onto her weapon with one foot and balancing on the other.

"The final round is Carly vs. Pierre vs. Fleecy." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Carly, seeing Pierre as a bigger threat, rushed at him first. The spy easily held the Muppet at bay as Fleecy continued to stand on one foot off to the side.

As Carly continued to attack him, Pierre saw an opening in her attacks and countered a blow with one of his own. This stunned Carly and it made things easy for Pierre to turn the tables on her and force her off the platform.

"Carly is out. It's down to Pierre and Fleecy."

"You may as well give up." Pierre said as he approached. "We both know I'm going to win."

Fleecy smirked. "Not likely."

Everyone watched in awe as Fleecy leapt forward and attacked Pierre. Spinning around, Fleecy clocked Pierre in the stomach, forcing him away a couple of steps. Fleecy skillfully leapt at Pierre again and continued to attack, all the while using only one foot to move around.

Before anyone knew what was happening, it was over. Fleecy managed to get Pierre to the edge of the platform and forced him off, still standing on one foot.

"And the final round is over! Fleecy has scored Sa'zan's third point out of a possible five!" SSBFreak announced. "Sa'zan wins Immunity!"

Fleecy put her weapon down and smirked at her shocked tribe. "I told you guys I could use my feet like hands." She said.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Sa'zan Tribe. You are all safe from elimination and will be around a few more days." SSBFreak said as he turned to the two losing tribes. "Roka and Malabar, I will be seeing you both at Tribal Council, where each tribe will be voting out someone. Since Roka came in last in three of the five rounds, they will go to Tribal Council first, and then Malabar will come in after someone is voted out. I'll give you guys the rest of the day to make your decisions, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

The tribes dispersed again, knowing that the two losing tribes would each be voting someone off. All that was left to do was to choose a target.

**(Roka Tribe)**

"_We lost Immunity, and we're heading to Tribal Council first because we failed so hard. After witnessing my tribe's performance, I think Wilson may be the best target." Lucy explained. "He's old, frail and weak, which makes him a triple-liability. Carly can wait for now, but Wilson should go first if we're to have any success at all."_

"Why Wilson? Carly's the weaker one." Tokyo pointed out.

"Wilson's just as weak, in addition to the fact that his age will bring us all down." Lucy reminded. "We'll take out Carly next, but we should take out Wilson first."

With that, Lucy walked off to prepare. Tokyo shook his head and folded his arms as Luther came over.

"I still say we should just vote Lucy off." Luther explained.

"I keep telling you that it's too risky, Luther." Tokyo replied. "I don't like Lucy, but the fact remains that she's stronger than the others."

"Tokyo, we should just get rid of Lucy while we can. Maybe going to Tribal Council won't be such a bad thing if we just get rid of the person we don't like."

"That will eventually come, but at the moment, we have to think strategically." Tokyo said, eyes narrowed.

"Well, ONE of us is going to have to fold." Luther folded his arms.

"I know. And the fact remains that we don't have a lot of time, so one of us had better get to folding." Tokyo replied.

"_Luther and I are generating conflict between each other simply because we can't seem to agree on targets." Tokyo moaned. "That's never a good thing when you're in an alliance with the person, but both of us are so intent on getting our way with the vote, that I'm afraid of what'll happen when one of us takes it too far."_

Luther and Tokyo again started to bicker about targets as Carly and Wilson watched from the shelter.

"I'm kinda worried, Wilson." Carly said. "You think they'll vote with us?"

"I hope so. We just need to establish that Lucy will just make things worse for the tribe." Wilson said.

"_Going into Tribal Council, Carly and I need to make sure we know what we're doing. Lucy is becoming more and more like a tyrant, so it shouldn't be too hard getting the strong guys to see it." Wilson explained. "This is one of those times where you're nervous of the outcome, and yet won't be surprised at it when it happens."_

**(Malabar Tribe)**

"So what's the plan?" Liz asked. "We need to get attention off us."

"I know. I think I may have an idea." Grace replied with a smirk. "Where are Kayo and Mugg?"

"_Grace had this good idea to plant ideas in the heads of Kayo and Mugg. If it works, things will take a turn for the better for us." Liz pointed out. "If Grace can get Kayo and Mugg to vote against Pierre, then I'll be extremely impressed."_

"Why would we vote out Pierre?" Kayo asked as he lifted an eyebrow.

"He's a spy. In case you don't know, spies are known for their backstabbing." Grace replied.

"Figuratively AND literally." Liz interjected.

"Do you guys really think spending the entire game on the same team as a spy would be a good idea?" Grace asked.

Mugg's eyes widened. "She's got a point, man." The burly man pointed out.

"Yeah…You're right. It makes sense." Kayo nodded.

"_Pierre's a spy, so he's naturally good at scheming and plotting backstabbings. I can't believe I didn't think about it until now." Kayo slapped himself on the forehead. "The girls may be weaker, but Pierre's a bigger threat. Maybe the girls can wait for a bit until we take out the guy most-likely to sell all of us out."_

Meanwhile, Pierre was standing aside and in the shadows, looking none too pleased. The spy appeared to be in deep thought as he walked off to a part of the camp.

"How am I going to do this? It seems that the girls are trying to get rid of me." Pierre mused. "I need a way to secure myself a spot in the tribe…"

Pierre suddenly spotted the tribe's treemail box, which had the purple emblem adorned on it. Gears turned in Pierre's head for a few seconds before a smirk floated across his face.

"_Maybe I can plant some fear into everyone's heads. This emblem was easy to remove from the treemail box and it could pass as the Hidden Immunity Idol." Pierre pointed out. "If I show them this, they may fall for it and not bother voting for me at all. I've only got one shot at this, so I need to make it count."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The five Roka players entered Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Finding their spots on the five stumps provided, everyone sat down.

"Welcome to your second Tribal Council, Roka Tribe. In a moment, you'll be voting one of your own out of the game, much like you did only a few days ago." SSBFreak said before he started asking questions. "Luther, the last time you guys were here, there was a tiebreaker challenge. Why did that happen?"

"Half of us voted for one person and the other half voted for another." Luther replied. "To this day, Tokyo and I still don't get the reasoning behind them targeting Claire to begin with."

"She cost us that Immunity Challenge, in case you forgot." Lucy replied.

"She was still stronger than all three of you." Luther returned. "Do you see a reason why we lost a challenge relying on physical strength? We seem to be DOWN one strong player at the moment."

"Tokyo, who do you blame for Claire's elimination?" SSBFreak asked.

"No question about it. Lucy." Tokyo replied.

Lucy's eyes widened. "Wait, what? Why are you blaming me? Carly was the one that beat her in the tiebreaker!" She replied.

"And whose idea was it to target Claire in the first place?" Tokyo folded his arms.

"Lucy, what's your opinion on this revelation?" SSBFreak asked.

"I'm shocked, to say the least. They shouldn't be blaming me! I thought I was on good terms with these guys, but I guess not." Lucy said.

"Whatever." Tokyo rolled his eyes.

"Carly, you managed to win the tiebreaker against Claire last time you guys were here. What do you have to thank for your fire-making skills?" SSBFreak asked.

"Well, when you hang around people like Gonzo, Bunsen, Beaker, the Swedish Chef and Crazy Harry, you tend to know a lot about fires." Carly shrugged. "I guess it was just my natural training around fire that helped me win the challenge."

"I assume you don't want to go through it again, though."

"Yeah. The tiebreaker was nerve wracking in itself."

"Wilson, who are the targets tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"From what I've heard, it's either going to be Carly, Lucy or myself." Wilson explained. "Carly and I want to survive out here, so I hope it's not us."

"Who are the swing votes?"

"Luther and Tokyo." Wilson replied. "All three of us have been trying to get their vote since the last Tribal Council."

"Tokyo, which way are you guys leaning?"

"Luther and I are torn and we can't reach an agreement. One of us wants to vote for either Carly or Wilson and the other wants to vote for Lucy." Tokyo shrugged. "One of us will need to give in, and I still don't think we've really reached an agreement yet."

"Well, I think that's enough questions this time. It's time to vote." SSBFreak explained. "Luther, you're up."

Luther stood up and walked out of the hut to the voting table. The executioner wrote a name down. "Tokyo and I need to reach an agreement SOMEtime." He said as he left the table.

Carly walked up to the table and wrote a name down. The Muppet was quick to put the ballot in the voting urn as she left the table.

Lucy casually wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I don't know which of the two strong guys wants me gone, but they'll be next." She warned, having voted for Wilson.

Wilson approached the table and scribbled a name down before showing it. "Carly and I don't like you anymore." He said, showing Lucy's name.

Tokyo shook his head as he wrote a name down. He silently put the ballot into the jar and left the table to return to the hut.

Once all five players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and came back with it momentarily. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Lucy." Lucy sat in anticipation.

"Lucy." Lucy narrowed her eyes.

"Wilson." Carly and Wilson looked at each other.

"Wilson." Lucy and Wilson exchanged glances, knowing one vote would decide it. "Last vote and third person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Wilson. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Wilson sighed as he sat back, but silently stood up. "Very well. Some may think I've been holding the tribe back." He said as he grabbed his torch and approached the host. "I don't agree with it, but still…"

"Wilson, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Wilson's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"A good soldier knows when his time is up." Wilson said as he left the hut and vanished from sight.

Once Wilson was gone, SSBFreak looked at the remaining players. "Wilson is gone, and it seems that the majority of the tribe has decided to vote out a physical liability. We'll see if this will improve your performance in future challenges or if Wilson's skills were what the tribe actually needed." He explained. "We won't have any way of knowing which it is until we have another challenge. You can all head back to camp so the Malabar Tribe can come in for their Tribal Council."

The four remaining Roka players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Carly trailed behind, looking distant. Reaching into her pocket, Carly pulled out Wilson's fake Immunity Idol and examined it. Wilson may not have been able to use it, but she still had it. Perhaps it was time to start thinking of how to use it…

"_I didn't last as long as I would have hoped, but I just got stuck on the same tribe as some people that didn't use proper thinking." Wilson shrugged. "I know it was their decision to keep Lucy over me, but I think Luther and Tokyo are going to be regretting it. Heck, maybe they already are…"_

**(Tribal Council 2)**

The six members of the Malabar Tribe entered Tribal Council, carrying torches. Seeing that and extra stump had been provided since the Roka Tribe left, the six players sat down and waited for the council to start.

"It took a week, but welcome to your first Tribal Council, Malabar Tribe. In a moment, you'll be eliminating one of your own from the game." SSBFreak explained as he again started asking questions. "Mugg, how is your camp thus far?"

"We like it, but we wish there could have been a beach or something." Mugg scratched his head. "The only water we have at camp is a river running through the middle of camp and a few small ponds."

"So you think it could have been better?"

"I think we just got the short end of the stick, but then again, we haven't seen the other camps, so I probably shouldn't be saying it." Mugg scratched his head.

"Inferno, how are the tribe dynamics?" SSBFreak asked.

"To be frank, it could be better. We've had friction since the start, even though we've won all the challenges until now." Inferno replied.

"Care to explain?"

"It seems to be the other guys against Grace and Liz." The blue-haired man scratched his head. "I'm not terribly sure, man."

"Kayo, why are the guys targeting the girls?" SSBFreak asked.

"Look at Pierre, Mugg, Inferno and myself. We're all pretty strong guys." Kayo responded. "In comparison, the girls are the weakest parts of the tribe."

"So it's not so much being weak, but weaker by comparison."

"We need all the strong players we can." Kayo replied. "At least until the merge hits, anyway."

"Grace, which of the guys are you girls targeting?" SSBFreak asked.

"Pierre, for obvious reasons. He's already a spy, and those are known for their backstabbing." Grace replied. "He's liable to betray everyone here if he gets the chance."

"Are you just saying that?"

"Uh…No." Grace said matter-of-factly. "Haven't you ever played Team Fortress 2?"

"Liz, where do you stand with everything that's been going around camp?"

"It's really hard to keep up with everything and still make sense of it all." Liz replied. "I mean, I've been trying to follow along with everyone and keep tabs on what everyone saying, but it's proving to be a chore in itself just trying to pay attention to everything."

"Do you think you're getting all of the important parts with no problem?"

"I think so. It's hard getting all of the details about plans, but I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Pierre, do you have some sort of retort to the girls for wanting to get you voted out?" SSBFreak asked.

"I know it may be tempting to vote me out because of me being a threat, but to put it simply, they can't and won't vote me out." Pierre folded his arms.

"What are you talking about?" Liz asked. "You're a backstabber, so it seems obvious to vote you out before you do the same to the rest of us."

"That may be so, but I've got something that will aid me here." Pierre replied as he pulled a purple emblem from his pocket. "I found this Immunity Idol around camp. If you vote for me, the votes will be negated and one of the girls will be going home anyway."

"Oh, no!" Liz cried.

"The Hidden Immunity Idol…" Kayo mused.

Grace paused, then narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute! That's not an Immunity Idol!" She accused. "That's the emblem from our treemail box!"

"Hey! She's right!" Mugg added. "What kind of people are you trying to take us for, anyway?"

"I-I assure you that it's the real thing." Pierre replied nervously. "Any votes against me will be negated!"

"Yeah, right!" Grace said.

"I think that's enough questions this time. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Kayo, you're up."

Kayo got up and left the hut. Approaching the voting table, Kayo wrote a name down and shoved it into the urn before leaving.

Grace wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I can't believe you just tried that. You're going down." She said, having voted for Pierre.

Inferno casually approached the table and voted. "My first choice since we started." He said as he put the vote into the jar and strolled away.

Pierre didn't look too happy as he wrote a name down and revealed Grace's name. "Thank you for ruining my entire plan." He said darkly.

Liz wasted no time in writing a name down. "This should be the first and final nail in the coffin." She said as she put her ballot into the voting urn and left the table.

Mugg narrowed his eyes and wrote a name down. He didn't even bother to speak as he folded his ballot and shoved it into the jar before walking away.

SSBFreak left again and returned soon afterwards with the voting urn. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Pierre." Pierre folded his arms, eyes narrowed.

"Pierre." Pierre cast a glance at Grace.

"Grace." Grace gave a hopeful smirk as she waited for the results.

"Pierre." Pierre looked around the tribe at everyone looking at him.

"Pierre." The tribe looked pleased with the result as Pierre sat back. "Last vote and fourth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Pierre. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Pierre stood up silently. "It seems my fake idol idea didn't go over well with you." He said as he approached the host after grabbing his torch.

"Pierre, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Pierre's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Watch your backs." Pierre warned as he stalked out of Tribal Council.

Once Pierre was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "And so ends your first Tribal Council with an almost-unanimous vote. Pierre didn't see that coming, and you all saw through his attempted trick. However, you have voted out a stronger player tonight, so only time will tell if it was a wise decision or not." He explained. "You should prepare for the next challenge to see for yourself, so you can all head back to camp."

The five remaining players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Grace, bringing up the rear, smirked to herself. Ever since Pierre had first targeted her, she had wanted to outlast him and make the blindside satisfying. Now that she had gotten her wish, it was time to step up the game…

"_I got too confident and I shouldn't have relied on that last-minute scheme. I didn't have enough time to think it through and it cost me." Pierre rolled his eyes. "Somehow, I think that if I didn't even bother with the emblem trick, the vote would have gone as planned and Grace would be here instead of me."_

**Voting History 1:**

**Wilson – Lucy, Luther and Tokyo**

**Lucy – Carly and Wilson**

**Voting History 2:**

**Pierre – Grace, Inferno, Kayo, Liz and Mugg**

**Grace – Pierre**

Author's Notes: I didn't have many plans for Wilson and knew he wouldn't last long when I cast him. I wanted to make it look like he knew what he was doing (like Bob in the real show), but couldn't come up with the means to survive.

Side note, Wilson was originally going to be in season 2 (still as an early boot, though). However, when I noticed that two far-more important characters had similar names (Mason and Nelson), I swapped him out with either Shamus or Brick.

Pierre was interesting to write for. I don't particularly like the Spy class, but I knew a spy would be the most fun to write for. That being said, he was always going out here as a decoy schemer, so it didn't really affect his standing.


	5. Days 9 to 11

**(Malabar Tribe)**

"_We voted out Pierre, which is a small victory for me. He was gunning for me, and now that he's gone, I've got a little extra time to start thinking up ideas." Grace said with a smirk. "First things first: I need to find that real Immunity Idol. Pierre's fake one isn't going to do me any good unless I can think of a use for it."_

"Can you believe that guy? Using the treemail emblem as an Immunity Idol?" Mugg asked as he looked at the defaced treemail box. "Man. The emblem made the box cool to look at."

"Well, looks like we're stuck with it like this from now on." Inferno shrugged. "He took it with him."

"I wonder why he thought it would help him. Did he think we wouldn't notice?" Liz asked.

"_I don't know if I should feel insulted that Pierre tried to pass our treemail emblem as the Immunity Idol or humiliated with the fact that we almost FELL for it." Liz folded her arms. "That first Tribal Council may have ended the way we wanted, but I still feel like Pierre got the last laugh in for almost winning."_

"Look, what's done is done. Pierre's gone, and we made the good choice of taking him out before he fooled us all with his plan." Kayo pointed out. "I suggest we just get to sleep and start things fresh in the morning."

"Yeah. Some of us are probably still reeling after that Council." Inferno nodded.

"Okay. That works for me." Liz said as she looked at Grace. "Right?"

"Uh…Sure." Grace nodded.

"_Pierre leaving was a downside because he was physically strong, but we can manage without him." Kayo insisted. "Honestly, now that Pierre's gone, I can work out a few things without having to worry about any real competition or interference with it."_

The Malabar Tribe went to bed, knowing that they would need to be rested to tackle the following day.

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 9)**

"_Winning Immunity Challenges is great for a number of reasons. First, none of us goes home, and second, someone from another team goes instead." Yori said. "This leaves us hoping that someone strong got voted out because we'll have an easier time in challenges."_

"Who do you think got the boot?" Bianca asked.

"The past tribe already voted out a strong player, so now they'd logically be going after a weaker player." Yori replied. "The present tribe would probably go after one of the girls."

"I don't know. The girls may try to find a scapegoat and pin blame on someone else."

Yori's eye widened slightly, but she managed to keep it concealed and remain in composure. "You never know in this game."

"_We like to guess who on the other team got eliminated when they go to Tribal Council, and now that both of the other tribes went, there's a lot of debate." Bianca explained. "Of course, that's overshadowed with who on our team to go after. Personally, I think Edwina and Renaldo are the weakest here, so it would make the most sense to target them first."_

"Have you guys seen the others?" Fleecy asked as she walked over. "They're not where they usually are."

"They're somewhere within the campgrounds." Yori shrugged.

"We were just wondering who got the boot with the other teams." Bianca told her friend.

"Is that all?" Fleecy asked as she sat down on the log Bianca was sitting on.

"Pretty much." Yori said as she looked around. "Actually, maybe it's good thing the others aren't around. I think we should go after them next."

"How so?" Fleecy asked.

"It took a bit of deduction, but I think it was Renaldo that voted to keep Det at our last Tribal Council." Yori explained. "I think we should go after him next."

"Really? Renaldo doesn't seem the type to keep a guy like Det around." Bianca noted.

"_When it comes to choosing targets, I'd much rather vote off Yori because I know she's up to something." Fleecy said. "However, she's the strongest left on our tribe and it would be stupid to get rid of her this early. For now, I'm going to have to go along with it and vote for Renaldo, but the first chance I get, I'm going to get Bianca and vote Yori out."_

**(Roka Tribe; Day 9)**

"_Wilson was voted out last night, which means I'm now on my own against everyone else. Lucy's probably feeling great that she managed to get the vote in her favour, but I've still got a chance." Carly said. "I need the guys to join up with me to vote out Lucy next, not like it would be hard considering how she's been acting."_

"Uh…Guys?" Carly asked as she approached Luther and Tokyo, only to stop herself when she saw that the guys were already in a discussion.

"Okay. I did you a favour by voting off Wilson, so now we target Lucy like we agreed." Luther explained.

"I know what we agreed to and I'm in." Tokyo insisted. "I know that this small victory will get Lucy's ego up, so it'll give us the chance to take her down unprepared."

"_I don't care if Carly's weaker. Lucy thinks that she's the leader of this tribe, which I have a great deal against." Luther folded his arms. "Tokyo got me to vote his way at Tribal Council, so now it's time he did the same for me. Lucy's becoming a tyrant and we need to take her out before she drives us crazy."_

"We'll need time to determine if she's the best target, but for now, we'll target her if we go to Tribal Council again." Tokyo said.

"As long as we do so before it's too late, I'm fine with it."

"_I agree that Lucy's attitude is hard to tolerate, but I can't deny that she's still a strong player. What I have going for me is that she thinks she's in charge while it's really Luther and I who control the vote." Tokyo pointed out. "We could probably take her out whenever we wanted, and that makes her a non-threat."_

"Where's Lucy now, anyway?" Tokyo asked.

"Still looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol." Luther replied. "She still can't find any trace of it, or at least that's what she's letting on."

"Okay. We should probably make sure she doesn't find it, for starters." Tokyo said. "All the while, we should probably look for it ourselves."

"Sounds like a plan." Luther said with a nod.

With that, the two strongmen walked off, leaving an unnoticed Carly scratching her head.

"_Maybe this will be easier than I thought…" Carly shrugged._

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 9)**

"_With Pierre gone, I think the majority of the tribe is searching for the idol since he apparently didn't have it." Kayo said. "Mugg and I are trying to find it before the girls do, and Inferno just doesn't seem to care. He's looking for it, but it doesn't seem like he's really trying. In all honesty, I'm suspicious that he's already found it."_

Kayo approached Inferno, whom looked like he was looking for the idol, but not really trying. "Okay, man. What's the story?" He asked.

"Uh…What?" Inferno asked.

"I've noticed that it doesn't look like you're really looking for the idol." Kayo folded his arms. "Do I take this as a means that you found it already?"

"Well, no. I just figure that if the rest of you have turned the camp inside out looking for the idol and haven't found it, I don't think anyone's going to find it at all." Inferno shrugged.

"Then why are you even pretending to look in the first place?"

"To make it look like I'm looking, to be honest." 

"_Okay. I'm more pretending to look around to distract Kayo and Mugg from finding it. I mean, I don't really need the idol since I'm the strongest here, but the girls do." Inferno pointed out. "If I can keep the guys from looking in the spots the idol could be located, the girls may have an easier time finding it."_

"_Okay. My little talk with Inferno made my suspicions of him rise. I really think he's already found the idol and now I think we should vote him out before he gets the chance to use it." Kayo scratched his chin. "I know it would be stupid to vote a strong player out pre-merge, but Mugg and I are both strong, so losing Inferno wouldn't make much of a difference."_

Meanwhile, Grace was looking around some bushes for the idol. As she was searching a bush, she suddenly saw Liz searching the same bush from the other side of it.

"Any luck?" Grace asked.

"Nothing. This is unreal. We've been searching for that idol since we started." Liz pointed out.

"I know, Either we're not getting something or the idol's already been found." Grace shook her head.

"_Liz and I have been searching for that idol as if our lives depend on it, and in a strange way, it does." Grace pointed out. "I just don't understand why we haven't found it yet, though. I mean, we've turned the entire camp inside out! If they aren't giving us any clues as to where the idol is, then why is it so hard when it should be right out in the open?"_

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"Why are we doing this again?" Renaldo asked as he looked around some bushes off the shore of the main tribe island.

"I think Yori's trying to pit everyone else against us, so if we're going to survive, we need the idol." Edwina replied.

"You really think she's trying that?"

"I'm a Survivor superfan. Trust me."

"_I aligned with Edwina because she knows so much about the game that it's almost as if she wrote the book." Renaldo said. "That being said, we still need something to keep us safe, as we're apparently in the minority for our tribe. The idol will help, but I'm afraid it won't help us much."_

"_I jokingly call the alliance I have with Renaldo the 'Opti-Pessi Alliance'. I'm the optimist and he's the pessimist." Edwina chuckled. "Most people would find Renaldo's knack for finding flaws annoying, but I think it makes him funny to hang around with. I know he's trying to play the game, but he can't help but slip a pessimistic comment into everything once in a while."_

"So where would the idol likely be located if you're such a fan of the show?" Renaldo asked.

"We haven't been given any clues, so there must be something around camp that'll direct us to the idol." Edwina said. "The idol's probably in an obvious place, but also the place we'd least expect it."

Renaldo glanced to the left and found himself looking at the treemail box. Looking at the silver tribe emblem that adorned it, Renaldo tilted his head and found himself approaching the box.

"Like on the treemail box?" Renaldo asked as he grabbed the emblem and easily removed it from the face.

Edwina turned and saw Renaldo holding the emblem in his disembodied hands. Her eyes widened as she quickly approached and looked at it. "Holy crap! This has to be it!" She said. "It was right in front of us the whole time!"

"Great. We've got a chance then?"

"You bet. There isn't anyone looking at us, is there?"

"Uh…Nope."

"Good. I'll hold onto this for now since you don't have much in the clothing department to hide it in."

"Can't argue with you there."

"_Okay. This is a step in the right direction, but we can't let our guard down and the idol will only save us once." Renaldo said. "I may not be as big of a fan as Edwina, but I know it's best to save the idol for the best time, although if Yori's trying to take us out, we may have to use it sooner than we normally would."_

**(Roka Tribe)**

"_I consider myself the head of the tribe for one main reason: I appear to be the only one left who's capable of it. Tokyo's a ninja, Luther's a big brute and Carly's a Muppet." Lucy said. "Now, even though Carly's our next target, I need to determine who the next target would be. After all, I need to be prepared for anything out here."_

"Tokyo, we need to talk." Lucy said as she came over.

"What is it now?" Tokyo asked with a light sigh that he hoped Lucy wouldn't catch.

"Luther's been getting on my nerves lately. Ever since before we voted out Wilson, actually." Lucy replied. "After we get rid of Carly, we should vote him out."

Tokyo looked at Lucy with a blank stare. "I hope you're kidding."

"_So Lucy comes up to me and says that we need to target Luther after Carly. What the heck is she on? Luther's our strongest player!" Tokyo pointed out. "I know that she doesn't want to get voted out, but she should at least know that I'm not voting out Luther this early."_

"Look, I know he's strong, but Luther's got a severe attitude problem and he'll just make camp life miserable." Lucy said.

"Lucy, let's take this one step at a time. Right now, you want Carly out, so leave it at that for now." Tokyo suggested.

"It never hurts to be prepared, Tokyo. If you're not ready for anything, you'll never win."

"You won't win if you target the wrong people at the wrong points of the game, either." Tokyo shrugged.

Lucy paused for a moment, then shook her head. "Just remember that, for future reference, Luther is on the chopping block until it's decided otherwise." She noted.

"_When exactly DID I decide Luther would be on the chopping block? It's getting more and more like Lucy's coming up with decisions on her own and not letting the rest of us have a say." Tokyo shook his head. "If Lucy doesn't get her head on straight, everyone else is going to make her pay for it."_

**(Malabar Tribe)**

The five remaining players, having spent the majority of the day searching for the Immunity Idol, sat around their fire pit when the sun set. It was clear that some of the five were suspicious of the others, but everyone was stumped at where the idol would be.

"So let's get this straight. You guys didn't find the idol?" Grace asked.

"Nope. Did you girls find it?" Kayo shook his head.

"Not a trace of it." Liz rolled her eyes.

"How do we know you're not lying?"

"You don't. Just like how we don't know if you're lying." Grace responded.

"_I don't trust Kayo and Mugg. There's a good possibility that they found the idol while Liz and I were searching, but I don't know how." Grace shook her head. "Liz and I have been searching way longer than those two, unless they happened to find the idol before we even started looking."_

"_Grace and Liz claim that they didn't find the idol. Quite frankly, I don't believe it." Kayo pointed out. "The girls have been searching for the idol for as long as I can remember, so if they say that they still haven't found it by now, I have a feeling that they might be lying."_

"Just keep in mind that I don't trust you girls and I think you've secretly got the idol." Kayo said.

"Right back at you, Kayo." Grace folded her arms.

Sitting alone on the log between the girls and guys, Inferno was rubbing his temples in annoyance. Liz and Mugg noticed him, then looked at each other as Grace and Kayo continued to toss comebacks back and forth. The two decided it was best to stay quiet.

"_There was no way I was gonna step in. When Kayo gets going, I realize it's kinda hard to get him to stop." Mugg shrugged. "Honestly, I'm starting to think that no one's got the idol with the constant suspicion the others are tossing at each other. Maybe I'm overthinking things, but it's just a hunch."_

"_I wanted to just blurt out that no one had found the idol yet, but that would give away the fact that the girls didn't have it." Inferno sighed. "I can only take so much of those two bantering back and forth before I think that gnawing my own arm off would be a better way to spend my time."_

Night soon rolled in. Knowing that there would be a challenge the following day, everyone went to bed.

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 10)**

"_Logically, we should be having a challenge today. We don't know why type it would be, but we're overdue for a Reward Challenge." Fleecy said. "I don't think they'll be having another Immunity Challenge so soon, but with Survivor, you never really know."_

"_Renaldo made sure to get treemail today to keep the rest of the tribe away from the treemail box." Edwina said with a smirk. "We need to keep everyone in the dark about the idol, and to do that, we need to make sure no one sees that the emblem on the box is gone."_

"We've got some treemail." Renaldo announced as he came over.

"Hmm…You think it may be a Reward Challenge?" Fleecy asked as she came over.

"Probably. We haven't really had one yet." Yori added.

"What do you think, Renaldo?" Edwina asked.

"Dunno. It just says 'Prepare for Anything'." Renaldo replied.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 10)**

"…Really? That's all it says?" Tokyo asked.

"Yep. Doesn't help much when you consider you HAVE to prepare for anything in Survivor." Luther shook his head.

"_Did I mention that I hate treemail?...No?...I HATE treemail!" Luther said. "Nothing it says is ever clear and it keeps you guessing on what the challenge is until you actually get to it! How are we supposed to know what we're dealing with when all it tells us to do is to be ready for anything?"_

"_We're in a bit of a problem since we're down one person. Hopefully, it won't hurt us in the challenge too much." Carly said. "We just need to make sure that we don't lose the challenge if it's Immunity, because I still feel I'm in danger."_

"We should probably head out and see what type of challenge we'll have." Lucy suggested.

**(Malabar Tribe; Day 10)**

"What do you guys think?" Liz asked. "I'm guessing Reward."

"That would seem the most-likely, since we haven't had one yet." Kayo said.

"Yeah. I thought that was kinda funny." Inferno scratched his head.

"_We have another challenge today, so hopefully we'll do okay despite losing Pierre. If it's Reward, then at least if we lose, we're still okay for the time being." Liz pointed out. "Grace and I need a lot more time to get our game into gear, and we're not going to get it if we lose Immunity."_

"We should probably head out before the others wonder where we are." Inferno said. "The last thing we want to do is be late."

The others agreed as they left camp, starting their trek to the challenge site.

"_Okay. We may have a bit of a disadvantage with one person down, but it doesn't matter. We can still win." Mugg said. "We're all determined to win the challenge no matter what it is, so don't be surprised if you see us win this next challenge!"_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Sa'zan Tribe stood on their mat, waiting for the other two teams to arrive. The five future players looked around for a challenge course, but nothing was set up.

"Let's bring out the Roka and Malabar Tribes." SSBFreak said as the other two tribes walked into view. "As you can see, Roka voted out Wilson while Malabar booted Pierre."

Although people weren't as surprised to see Wilson gone, they were definitely surprised to see that Pierre had been voted out. Nevertheless, everyone was quiet as the three teams stood on the mat.

"Normally, I would welcome you to the next challenge, but as you may guess from the lack of any equipment, we're not having a challenge today." SSBFreak said.

"Wait. What?" Tokyo asked.

"Then why are we here?" Bianca asked.

"We've been going this far with three teams and it's hard enough for us to keep track of all three at once." SSBFreak pointed out. "So, we're going to have a Tribe Swap in a way."

Everyone's eyes widened, as this was what they were least expecting to happen.

"I have in my hand a bag with three rocks in it. Two are purple and one is black." SSBFreak said as he held up a small pouch. "One person from each tribe will reach into the bag and take a rock without looking at it. Whichever tribe gets the black rock will lose their tribe and the members will be dispersed amongst the other tribes."

The tribes looked nervous, seeing as how it all came down to a game of chance to determine if they lost their camp or not.

"Will each tribe send someone forward, preferably someone they consider the tribe leader?" SSBFreak asked.

For some people, it took a bit of talking to decide which of them would go up. In the end, Lucy, Kayo and Yori approached the host. They reached into the bag and pulled out a rock, keeping it covered so no one, not even themselves, could see it.

"When I tell you to, uncover your rock and we'll see what the results are." SSBFreak instructed. "3…2…1…Reveal!"

The three players opened their hands to reveal their rocks. Everyone suddenly saw that Kayo was holding the black rock.

"Kayo, the black rock is in your hand." SSBFreak said. "With that, the Malabar Tribe is no more."

"What?" Liz asked. "After winning most of the previous challenges?"

"Them's the breaks." SSBFreak shrugged. "Will the Malabar Tribe please come here?"

The other four present players stepped off their mat and approached the host to join Kayo as SSBFreak looked at the other teams.

"Okay. Roka and Sa'zan will now take turns to determine who they want on their team." SSBFreak said. "Since Roka has fewer people, they'll choose first."

"Inferno!" All four Roka players said as one. The blue-haired man nodded and walked over to the green mat.

"Sa'zan, now it's your pick."

"Kayo. He looks strong." Yori said. Kayo smirked and walked over to join his new team.

"Roka?"

"Mugg." Lucy said. Mugg walked over to the Roka mat, but not before casting a glance at Kayo.

"Sa'zan?"

"We'll take Grace." Fleecy said. Grace walked over to the silver mat, avoiding eye contact with Kayo.

"And that means that Roka will get Liz." SSBFreak said as Liz walked over to the green mat, completing the Roka Tribe. "Fourteen of you are left and there are now two teams of seven. We'll have to see if you welcome your new players or if you decide to vote them out. That's all I have to give you this time, so you can all head back to camp."

The two tribes dispersed again, leaving the clearing. The separated Malabar Tribe didn't look so confident with their chances now, especially since both of the major alliances on the tribe had been unknowingly split.

**(Roka Tribe)**

"_Man. That sucked. We were doing incredibly well in the challenges, and all of a sudden, we lose our tribe." Liz sighed. "And to top it all off, Grace and I got separated, which is bad because I considered her the leader of our alliance. I don't know how I can make it on my own, but I'm going to have to try."_

"Nice place you guys got." Inferno noted as he looked around.

"Yeah. It's not much, but we call it home." Tokyo shrugged. "What was your tribe like?"

"Not much more than a big clearing with a river running through it." Inferno replied. "If you ask me, I think you guys got the better deal."

"_I think having some of the Malabar Tribe around could help us recover from our losing streak. We need all of the strength we can get, so right away we jumped at the chance to get Inferno and Mugg." Tokyo said with a smirk. "And now that there are only two teams, our chances at winning are better than before."_

"So who are you guys targeting first?" Liz asked.

Luther looked around for a few seconds before looking at Liz. "Lucy. She's becoming a tyrant." He explained.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. She's been trying to mastermind the vote and she thinks she's succeeding."

"So…What? We just vote her out?" Liz asked.

"I hope we can. Lucy's been looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol persistently."

"_Well, it sucks that we lost our camp, but at least it seems that we're not getting targeted right away." Inferno noted. "If the Roka guys are targeting each other before they get to us, then maybe it's not so bad losing our camp."_

"Cheese it. She's coming." Tokyo whispered to Luther as Lucy approached.

"It's good to see that we're all together here. I just wanted to bring the new guys up to speed with what's going on." Lucy said. "Carly's the weakest here, so we're going after her first."

Liz looked at Inferno. "I guess it makes sense." She reasoned.

"Yeah. We'll go with it." Inferno said.

"It's good to have you guys on board." Lucy said.

"_This may actually work out and we'll be able to keep our strong players around longer. Once Carly goes, we can shift the target to Liz." Lucy said. "I guess Luther was just lucky this happened or else he'd be targeted much earlier than he was thinking."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"Wow. Your tribe is just a big island?" Grace asked as she walked onto the shoreline just off the tribe's island home.

"Yeah. It takes a bit, but you warm up to having such a view." Edwina assured.

"_It's bad enough that we lose our camp and have to relocate to a new one, but worse is the fact that we didn't find the Hidden Immunity Idol before we were dissolved." Grace moaned. "That could have been a lifesaver for us, but because we didn't find it, we're going to have to try and survive on our own."_

"Uh…Where'd Kayo go?" Edwina asked as she looked around.

"Don't know, don't care." Grace waved it off. "He and I have been at odds since we started."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but never mind about it. Why don't you guys bring me up to speed of what's been going on?" Grace asked.

"Okay. Here's the lowdown on the happenings around here since we started." Fleecy said.

"_I wanted to get on Grace's good side as quick as I could, because sooner or later, we're all going to be looking for numbers." Fleecy said. "If Grace and Kayo are enemies like she says they are, we can get them to go against each other while we stay in the game. And when the dust settles after that, we'd have a new ally."_

Meanwhile, Yori had taken Kayo over to another part of the tribe, away from the others. Making sure no one had followed her, Yori turned to Kayo.

"So tell me what it is between you and the girl." Yori said.

"She and I have been gunning for each other." Kayo shrugged. "We only really joined forces because the creep we voted out was trying to pull a fast one over on us all."

"I was wondering why it looked like you guys had voted out a strong player…"

"_This isn't good. Grace and I are not only on the same tribe, but I'm separated from Mugg so now I have to work on getting allies from scratch." Kayo folded his arms. "If I can convince the others to help me vote out Grace, then I'll have a good chance at recovering relatively easy. I just need to hope that Mugg can do the same."_

"_We brought Kayo and Grace onto the tribe because we needed stronger people. I never would have expected us to be bringing a pair of enemies onto the tribe at the same time." Yori smirked. "That just makes things even better. This could get extremely interesting, depending on what way I'll make it pan out."_

Night rolled in and the two remaining tribes went to sleep, knowing that a challenge would be awaiting them the following day.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 11)**

Carly walked through camp, looking around. She saw that Inferno was fishing with Tokyo and Luther, while Liz and Mugg seemed to be separated, not talking to each other. Lucy was unseen, but probably looking for the idol.

"_I took the time to analyze the new people in our tribe. I think Inferno's okay, but it's the tension between Liz and Mugg that worries me. I'm afraid that things may take a drastic turn for the worse between them if we're not careful." Carly folded her arms. "I know most people would want someone strong, but we don't want even more friction than we already have."_

As Carly walked to the treemail box, she reached into her pocket and pulled Wilson's fake idol from it. A few gears started turning in her head as she walked.

"_Wilson made a fake idol, but he was taken out before he could use it. I need to find the best time to put this into play if I want to survive out here." Carly explained. "I'm obviously the weakest left, so they'll be gunning for me."_

Meanwhile, the three strongmen of the tribe were at the beach, attempting to catch a fish.

"Liz and Mugg are on opposing alliances?" Tokyo asked.

"Yeah. Both of their leaders got taken to the other tribe, so I don't know if either of them are sure as to what to do now." Inferno shrugged.

"This is actually good. If we can keep their focus on each other, then it'll let the rest of us do all of the planning." Luther suggested.

"That's not a bad idea." Tokyo nodded. "We'll go with it for now."

"_Apparently, Liz and Mugg don't like each other. Naturally, this means that they'll be gunning for each other as the game goes on." Luther said. "If they keep doing that, then we'll be able to plan around that, keeping them both in the game so that their rivalry will keep them unfocused."_

"_I know I'm aligned with the girls, but I think I'd better keep quiet about this. It doesn't seem like Liz is going to be targeted for a bit, so as long as she's not in any real danger, she can relax." Inferno said. "However, I don't want to tell her this because I know it would give me a huge target with the others."_

"We've got some treemail." Mugg announced as he approached with a letter.

"I guess it's time for the Immunity Challenge." Tokyo said as everyone approached.

"It says 'How strong of a team are you'?" Mugg read before chuckling. "We've got this one in the bag!"

"Don't be so sure. The treemail letters always mean something other than what they say." Lucy reminded.

"_Come on! It's a strength challenge and we've got four strong players on our team! Who does the other tribe have?" Mugg asked. "I know we can win in a game of endurance, and I also know that's what the challenge is going to be."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 11)**

"Make sure we're the ones to get the treemail." Edwina whispered.

"I know." Renaldo nodded.

"_Since we found the Immunity Idol, the last thing we want anyone to see is the treemail box without the emblem on it." Edwina said. "Because of this, Renaldo and I need to keep a close eye on the treemail box to make sure no one except us checks it for mail."_

"_There's only so long we can keep this up before someone gets wise and finds out what we're doing." Renaldo informed. "I know Edwina is the expert on Survivor, but I still think we need a backup plan in case this one explodes in our faces."_

Renaldo reached into the treemail box and pulled an envelope from it. "Looks like the next challenge is ready for us." He said.

"Then let's report it to the others." Edwina said with a smirk.

The Opti-Pessi Alliance quickly went back to the rest of the tribe to show them the letter. "We've got treemail!" Edwina called out.

"That was pretty fast." Grace lifted an eyebrow.

"What are we doing this time?" Bianca asked.

"Looks like a team-based endurance challenge." Renaldo said.

"This isn't good." Bianca said. "The other tribe has more strong players than we do."

"We can take them. We just need to play it right." Yori assured with a smirk.

"_I'd say that Yori and I are the strongest people on the tribe, although we have Kayo now and that will help us greatly." Bianca said. "However, that still puts us behind the other team in terms of strength. If we're going to win, we need to make sure that we don't make any mistakes in the challenge."_

"_We've been doing well when there were three teams, so you'd naturally think that with only two teams, we'd fare even better." Yori shrugged. "This just means that the competition is going to get tougher because you have a bigger probability to lose. We've been fortunate thus far, but our luck can turn at any moment."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two teams walked out onto a clearing and saw their mats sitting on the ground. The fourteen players walked over to their respective mats and stepped on them, waiting for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your first Immunity Challenge as two teams. Here, we will be seeing how strong all of you put together are as opposed to individually." SSBFreak said. Everyone suddenly became aware of the two large tarps containing several large weights behind the host, each one with seven lines attached. "Behind me are two sets of equally-distributed weights. You all must work as a team to keep your tarp of weights off the ground, because the weight is far too much for even the strongest of you to lift on their own. Should you let you of your line at any time, you're out, leaving your remaining team-mates to carry your load. Every fifteen minutes, we will also be adding an extra twenty pounds to each tarp. The first team to drop their tarp completely will lose Immunity and see me at tonight's Tribal Council."

Everyone looked at each other, knowing that a lot was riding on how long they could hold something heavy up.

"If you'll all get into position, we can start the challenge." SSBFreak said.

The two teams walked over to their respective tarps and each grabbed a line. Pulling on the lines with all of their might, the two teams were able to lift the tarps off the ground.

"Doesn't seem so bad at the moment." Bianca said. "Save your energy for when they add more weights."

"Right." Edwina nodded.

"Guys, we need you to lift as much as you can early on so the rest of us can stay in the game later." Lucy instructed.

"Sorry, Lucy. We need everyone to pitch in. The last thing you want is for us to tire ourselves out." Tokyo shook his head. "We all know YOU can't lift this by yourself."

"That may be so, but we still need you to pick up some of the slack."

"How're you holding out, Carly?" Liz asked.

"I can manage, but there's no way I'll be able to stay in the whole game." Carly shook her head.

"Just try and last as long as you can."

"You got a good grip, Renaldo?" Edwina asked.

"I think so." Renaldo nodded. "We'll just have to hope that it holds out when they add more weights."

The fourteen players held it out and managed to hold on until the first round of extra weights was added to the tarps.

"The first set of twenty pounds has been added to each tarp, and everyone is still in the game." SSBfreak said. "Luther, what's your strategy for this game?"

"I'm just trying to block everything out and remain focused on the task." Luther replied. "I'm not going to let anything distract me."

"Fleecy, how are you holding out despite not having any hands?"

"Just fine." Fleecy called back, using her hair to hold onto her line. "Like I always say, don't count me out just because I don't have hands."

"Bianca, you seem to be holding out fairly well. Are you stronger than it appears?"

"Yeah. Yori may be the strongest on the tribe, but I'd say that I come pretty close." Bianca said. "A challenge like this requires all of the will and determination you can get."

"Lucy, what's going through your head right now?" The host asked.

"I'm trying to conserve energy for when additional weights are added. That way, I won't drop out so easily when the tarp becomes heavier." Lucy said.

Luther just gave a grunt as he continued to pull on his line.

The contestants managed to hold out for another fifteen minutes. Another twenty-pound weight was added to each tarp.

"I'll be honest: I'm surprised no one's dropped out by now." SSBFreak noted as he looked around. "Yori, how do you think you'll win the game?"

"By trying to keep my mind off the pain of the task and focused on completing it." Yori responded. "If I give into the pain, I'll be weakened."

"Tokyo, same question. How are you guys going to win?"

"We need to split the weight of the tarp accordingly. I know some of us are stronger, but we won't be able to hold this thing up by ourselves if it gets too heavy." Tokyo replied.

Suddenly, Carly's arms gave out and she let go of her line. The Muppet, seeing that she was out, moaned at herself for getting eliminated first.

"Carly is out!"

Liz suddenly lost her grip as well. The red-haired rocker groaned as she walked to the side with Carly. "Sorry, guys."

"Liz is out, too! Roka is down two people!"

"Okay. The Muppet will go first and Liz will go right afterwards." Lucy told Mugg.

"That's fine with me." Mugg nodded.

"Lucy, stop talking." Luther muttered.

The remaining twelve players managed to hold their tarps for the remainder of the next fifteen minutes. An extra twenty pounds was added, putting even more strain on those that weren't physically strong.

"I'm impressed that you've held out for so long, but I know that you all have your limits." SSBFreak said with a smirk. "Inferno, I'm surprised you're still in. Are you stronger than you let on?" He asked.

"I'm stronger than I look, but I don't think I can go toe-to-toe with some of these other guys." Inferno shook his head. "It's possible, but pretty unlikely."

"Grace, I'm even more surprised to see you still in."

"Determination can make you do strange things, pal." Grace said through her teeth, clearly struggling to hold onto her line. "Believe me, I know."

Suddenly, Edwina's grip slipped and she let go of her line. Renaldo followed afterwards, but held his hands in pain from the ropeburn he got trying to hold on.

"Edwina and Renaldo are both out! The tallies are tied for each team!"

"Ignore it. We can still do this." Kayo assured.

"Lucy, can you guys still win?" SSBFreak asked.

"I know we can. The rest of us left are strong now that the weaker players dropped out." Lucy assured. "The other team only has one or two strong players."

"You sound confident."

"I'm my tribe's leader. I have to know these things." Lucy said with a smirk.

Luther finally opened his eyes behind his hood and narrowed them. "Okay, you know what?" He asked. "I'm through with this. I'm done."

Luther shocked his team by purposefully releasing his line. Because they had just lost their strongest player, the remaining Roka players couldn't hold up the weight and dropped it, Mugg being lifted into the air a couple of inches.

"Luther dropped out and Roka can't hold up the weight! They're out!" SSBFreak announced. "Sa'zan wins Immunity!"

The future tribe cheered as they released their lines. The Roka Tribe looked disappointed, although Lucy was glaring at Luther while he looked unfazed at what he had just done.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Sa'zan. You're all safe from elimination for the next few days." SSBFreak said as he turned to the losing tribe. "Roka, I'll be seeing you guys again tonight at Tribal Council, where you will once again vote one of your own out of the game. About this time, you'll have to ask yourselves who the best target is, because you'll also be thinking of your tribe's future. I'll give you the rest of the day to make your decision, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Roka Tribe)**

"_That challenge took us all by surprise. Not only did we lose, but Luther dropped out on purpose and none of the four of us remaining could hold up the weights." Mugg said. "I'm more surprised than anyone because I didn't think Luther was that much stronger than the rest of us."_

"Luther, I think you've got some explaining to do." Lucy said, looking mad. "Why did you throw the challenge?"

Luther looked down at Lucy. "Because I can't take it anymore. You've been hounding everyone, myself included, for the whole game. Come Tribal Council, I'm voting you out." He pointed out.

"Excuse me? I'm the leader of the tribe! Why would you vote me out when there are weaker players around?" Lucy demanded.

"Why WOULDN'T we vote you out? You're a power-hungry tyrant and none of us consider you the tribe leader, mainly because you simply elected yourself!" Luther snapped. "I've been trying to put up with you for the last eleven days now and I've had it!"

"If you want to go against me, that's fine. After we vote out Carly, I'm targeting you!" Lucy shouted.

Without giving Luther a chance to react, Lucy turned and stalked away. Luther didn't look intimidated. Tokyo, Inferno and Mugg looked at each other with questioning glances.

"_It felt good to get all of that off my chest, and I figured that now would be the best time to do it since we're voting out Lucy tonight." Luther said. "Lucy's been TRYING to control this tribe, but I have to say that she's failing at it. She isn't as good of a leader as she thinks she is, so I say we just get rid of her now and be done with it."_

"Is she really that bad?" Mugg asked.

"You'd be surprised." Tokyo sighed. "She's been acting like she's been controlling the tribe after managing to get Claire eliminated."

"We were wondering why you guys would get rid of her first."

"Yeah. We blame Lucy."

"Well, I don't have any problems voting her out." Mugg folded his arms. "Frankly, I don't like getting bossed around."

"Yeah, man. I'm in." Inferno nodded. "I'm pretty sure the girls will be in as well."

Luther smirked behind his mask. "I appreciate it." He said.

"_Luther thinks Lucy's overstayed her welcome, and I'm starting to agree with him. If she's not going to see her own ineffectiveness as a leader, then we'll have to get rid of her." Tokyo shrugged. "It's no real loss, though. To be honest, I think we'd function much better as a team without her around."_

"_If Luther thinks he's going to pull one over on me, he's got another thing coming. I managed to finally get lucky and I stumbled upon the Hidden Immunity Idol." Lucy said as she held up an idol. "I was thinking of taking out Carly, but maybe I should blindside Luther with it to show the rest of the tribe that I mean business."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The Roka Tribe again entered Tribal Council with lit torches, this time with three extra players. The seven players walked over to the empty spots and sat down to wait for the council to commence.

"Welcome to your first post-swap Tribal Council, Roka Tribe. I know this is the last place any of you want to be right now, but there's nothing we can do about it at this point." SSBFreak greeted. "In a minute, you'll be voting one of your own out of the game." The host looked at the contestants and decided to start asking questions. "Liz, were you expecting to lose your tribe the way you did?"

"No way. That whole challenge was based around luck and anyone could have gotten the black stone." Liz sighed. "It just so happened to be us that paid for it."

"How are you adjusting to the new camp?"

"Not bad. It's going to take some getting used to since we had our camp for ten days, but we can work our way around it." Liz said.

"Tokyo, how well are you guys accepting the new players?" SSBFreak asked.

"To be frank, we're glad they're with us now. We need all the power we can get to defeat the other team, and we just got three extra people that could help us." Tokyo explained.

"You seem optimistic."

"I just think that this may be just what we need to end our losing streak." Tokyo said.

"And yet we still lost." Luther added.

"Next time."

"Luther, it seemed that you simply let go at the challenge." SSBFreak said. "Did you give up?"

"There's someone on this tribe that I think we could really do without and I realized that I needed to get rid of them now before I lose it." Luther said, arms folded.

Lucy looked mad and SSBFreak noticed. "I take it you think he's referring to you, Lucy?" He asked.

"Yes, but I don't understand how. I mean, without a leader, this tribe is going nowhere." Lucy said.

"We're going nowhere NOW. How are you helping us?" Luther asked.

"I'm the leader, Luther!"

"You made YOURSELF the leader! None of us agree with you!" Luther snapped back.

"That's enough, you two." SSBFreak said as he switched targets. "Inferno, who's getting your vote tonight?"

"It took a bit of thinking, but in the end, I'm leaning towards voting for Lucy." Inferno said. "From the little I've seen, I agree with Luther."

"I think that's enough questions this time. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Tokyo, you're up."

Tokyo got up and left the hut, going over to the voting table. The ninja wrote a name down and placed it into the urn before leaving.

Liz walked up to the table and wrote a name down. Making sure she wrote the right name, the redhead rocker placed her ballot into the jar.

Luther quickly wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "There's only so much I can take." He said, having voted for Lucy.

Inferno approached the table and quickly wrote a name down. "By the way, I was lying about how I had to think about this." He assured as he voted.

Carly scribbled a name down when she got to the table. She looked at it to make sure she had done it right before depositing it into the jar.

Lucy looked even madder now as she turned her ballot around, revealing Luther's name. "Eliminating you will prove to the others that I AM a leader." She said.

Mugg was the last to vote as he approached the table. He scribbled a name down and shoved it into the urn without second-guessing himself.

Once all seven people had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained.

"Hold up."

SSBFreak looked at Lucy, who pulled an idol from her pocket. "I found this at camp and I'd like to play it." She said.

The sight of the idol caused almost everyone else to stare with wide eyes and shock as Lucy handed the idol to the host. As the host inspected the idol, Lucy looked confident.

"Lucy, this isn't your tribe's Hidden Immunity Idol." SSBFreak announced.

Lucy did a double-take. "Wait, what? I found it hidden at camp!" Lucy insisted.

"Then it must have been planted, because this one is fake." SBFreak said as he tossed the fake idol into the fire pit.

"But…But…" Lucy stammered as she slowly retreated back to her seat, wondering who was responsible.

"It's now time to read the votes." SSBFreak said.

"…First vote; Lucy." Lucy was still stunned.

"Lucy." Lucy snapped out of her daze and looked around, mad.

"…Luther." Luther lifted and eyebrow behind his mask.

"Lucy. She leads with three votes." Lucy glared at Luther, who looked satisfied.

"Lucy." Lucy folded her arms as the rest of the tribe looked at each other.

"Lucy." Overall, everyone seemed pleased with their choice. "Last vote and fifth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Lucy. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"You guys doomed the tribe." Lucy said as she got up. "Without a leader, you guys are going to fall." Lucy grabbed her torch and brought it to the host.

"Lucy, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Lucy's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"You'll be sorry!" Lucy said as she left Tribal Council without looking back.

Once Lucy was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining Roka members. "And so ends another Tribal Council, which should prove that it's possible for a mutiny at any moment, even when the person may not necessarily be a leader to begin with." He said. "You guys are down a person, but the game's still early on. We'll have to see if you guys can make up for the fact that you're behind, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

The six remaining Roka players stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Carly brought up the rear again, this time smirking. She was wondering when would be the best time to use Wilson's fake idol, and it looked like the opportunity presented itself right in front of her when she put it into play…

"_Without me, the tribe will fail. They're going to end up regretting voting me out, and whoever put that fake idol out better hope I never find out whose idea it was!" Lucy warned. "Well, whatever. It's their loss for voting me out and if they don't see me as an asset, they'll pay for it in the future."_

**Voting History:**

**Lucy – Carly, Inferno, Liz, Luther, Mugg and Tokyo**

**Luther – Lucy**

Author's Note: Lucy was always a short-term character when I started writing, and I wanted to make her as unlikable as possible as time went on to make her burning herself with the fake idol satisfying. I think I accomplished that.

Side note: Lucy was originally a Cave Story fancharacter, but when I finalized the season being past vs. present vs. future, I changed her franchise.


	6. Days 12 to 14

**(Roka Tribe)**

"I'm glad that worked out the way it did." Luther shook his head as he and the others walked into camp.

"_Lucy was eliminated, according to plan. None too soon, either." Luther said. "I have to admit that I got a little nervous when she pulled out that idol, but I was even more surprised when we were told it was fake. Lucy obviously didn't know it was fake, so someone here must have made and planted it."_

"Whose idol was that, anyway?" Luther asked.

"You got me, man." Inferno shrugged. "The Malabar guys just arrived."

"I was more thinking it was your fake idol since you wanted her out so badly." Carly pointed out.

"No. It wasn't mine." Luther added.

"I have to admit that it was a smart move, though." Liz noted. "Whoever made that idol wanted to make sure it was played to bring someone down.

"I know, but who made it?" Tokyo asked.

"_Everyone denied making that fake idol that Lucy played. While it may not seem like a big deal, it tells us that someone on our tribe is a lot sneakier than they let on." Tokyo said suspiciously. "For one, I'm going to be keeping my eyes open to see if anyone's acting out of character at all. That'll tell me who to watch out for later on in the game."_

"_I didn't want to tell anyone that fake idol was mine because I didn't want to make myself look like a schemer. That would just get me targeted too early." Carly said. "Besides, I wasn't technically lying when I said I didn't make it, since it was Wilson that made it just before he got eliminated."_

"I say we just put that behind us for now and head to bed." Luther said. "We got rid of the person that was holding us back, so we should be able to perform better now."

"I sure hope so." Tokyo shook his head. "We lost the majority of the challenges pre-swap."

"_I'm glad that the Roka players decided to pick off one of their own. That would put them on equal ground with the Malabar players in case one of them tried to overthrow us." Inferno said with a smirk. "Sometimes, you gotta work hard for a chance like that, but other times it just falls into your lap."_

The six remaining Roka players went to bed, knowing they'd have a rough next challenge, whenever it would be.

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 12)**

"_I seem to be adjusting to the new camp fairly well, but the fact remains that Kayo and I ended up together." Grace folded her arms. "However, Yori's said that we could pick off a couple of others. This means that I won't be a target, but it also means that I have to put up with Kayo and run the risk of him taking me out."_

"Yori, I want to suggest something." Grace said.

"What is it?" Yori asked.

"I'm willing to vote your way for a couple of times, but when you're done, I want to get rid of Kayo."

"Is it because you two have been at odds?"

"No. It's more for me wanting to vote him out before he does the same to me."

"I see."

"_Part of me wants to do what Grace says and separate the two of them, but the other, larger part of me wants to keep them both around." Yori explained. "I need to make sure there is enough friction on the tribe to allow me to control it, and there won't be any if the rivalries are separated."_

"So the first order of business would be to separate Edwina and Renaldo." Yori said.

"The Opti-Pessi Alliance." Grace corrected. "I've heard the two of them calling themselves that."

"Well, whatever. We need to go after them first."

Meanwhile, Renaldo was sitting at the edge of the island the tribe called home. Edwina approached him from behind and looked around. "No one go to the treemail box yet?" She asked in a whisper.

"No one's approached it yet. I've had my eyes on it the whole time." Renaldo replied.

Edwina paused, then looked at Renaldo. She was tempted to ask if Renaldo actually HAD eyes, but decided against it.

"_We need to make sure no one sees the treemail box without the emblem there. If they did, they would instantly know that it would be the idol and someone else had it." Edwina pointed out. "If we're to use the idol effectively, we need to make sure no one knows it's even in play. That means keeping people away from the box."_

**(Roka Tribe; Day 12)**

Luther and Tokyo were at the small beach area of the tribe, trying to catch fish. Since Malabar had won the fishing rod earlier, both remaining tribes had received a fishing rod when the present tribe was dispersed. Tokyo was trying to catch fish with it while Luther resorted to his bare hands again.

"_We got rid of Lucy, which is good for the tribe and all, but that leaves us with the decision of what to do next." Tokyo said. "I mean, we've lost most of the challenges thus far, so we need to make sure we know what we're going to do if we go to Tribal Council."_

"So what now?'" Tokyo asked. "Now that Lucy's gone, what do you think would be the best course of action?"

"I almost hate to admit it, but Lucy's strategy was sound enough. Carly and Liz are the weakest here, so we should probably go after them first." Luther explained.

"I know. It may not seem the nicest thing to do, but it's the best choice we've got." Tokyo added.

"Unless one of them happens to have the real Immunity Idol." Luther said.

"You SURE you didn't make the fake one?"

"Of course not!"

"_The problem with choosing targets is that we have the chance of being idol'ed without having time to react." Luther said. "That's obviously the last thing we want, so we need to make sure that when we decide on a target, it's a fact that they don't have the idol."_

"Still not catching anything?" Luther asked.

"Not a thing. I don't get it. The previous two seasons made this seem so easy…" Tokyo shook his head.

Meanwhile, Carly was looking around camp. The three Malabar players seemed to be looking for the hidden Immunity Idol, and the only thing keeping Carly from looking with them was that they were all looking in places she already looked.

"_Everyone got the Immunity Idol on their minds and it's easy to tell when you notice how thoroughly everyone is searching the campgrounds." Carly said. "I need to think fast, though. I was able to pull off a move with a fake idol before, but I don't think I could do it again…"_

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

Kayo was busy building a fire as everyone else was off doing other things. He didn't want to show it, but Kayo was only trying to look busy so no one would guess that he was thinking about what to do.

"_Yori told me that we'd be targeting Edwina and Renaldo first. That's fine with me, but I want to make sure that, when it comes down to it, Yori will side with me over Grace." Kayo said. "There's obviously more to Grace than it seems and I'm the only one here that seems to know that. I need a plan and I need it fast."_

Kayo looked up from the fire pit and saw Bianca and Fleecy walking by. A few gears started turning in his head before a smirk appeared on his face. He got up and walked over to them. "Hey, girls?" He said.

"Yeah, Kayo?" Bianca asked.

"I know this is sudden, but I'd like your votes. I want to vote out Grace." Kayo asked.

"Really?" Fleecy asked suspiciously. "How do we know you're telling the truth?"

"You've seen the way the two of us are never on the same page." Kayo said. "To be frank, I want to get rid of Grace before she does the same to me."

"_I don't know if we can trust Kayo, but it seems like he's telling the truth. I mean, it could work out for us if he and Grace want to focus on each other." Fleecy noted. "That being said, we need to make sure we can trust what Kayo's saying before we consider joining him."_

"We'll keep it in mind and see what we decide later on." Fleecy said.

"Thank you." Kayo said as he retreated back to the fire pit to continue to work on a fire.

Bianca looked down at Fleecy. "Can we trust him?" She asked.

"It's hard to tell, but he SOUNDED honest." Fleecy noted.

"_I don't know. I mean, I'd be all for getting an extra vote, but Kayo doesn't seem the trustworthy type of person." Bianca said. "Of course, you'd have to be a little untrustworthy yourself to make that assumption, but I've still got a lingering feeling that he's got something up his sleeve."_

"_I'm serious about potentially joining Bianca and Fleecy. I need to keep my options open and I'd still have the majority once Edwina and Renaldo are gone." Kayo said with a smirk. "Call it sneaky; Call it double-crossing; I call it strategy."_

**(Roka Tribe)**

Mugg sat at the tribe's shelter, having spent a good amount of time looking for the Hidden Immunity Idol, with no luck. He looked to be in thought.

"_We got lucky at our last Tribal Council because the Roka players seemed intent on getting rid of one of their own.'' Mugg said. "Not that I don't have a problem with that, but I'm stumped as to what to do to advance in the game. I always relied on Kayo to come up with things, and now that we're separated, I kinda feel like I'm in serious danger."_

"What do I do? I need a plan in case something comes up that I can't handle."

"Then it appears we're in the same boat."

Mugg snapped his head up and turned to see Liz walking over. "Uh…What?"

"_I considered Grace the leader of our alliance. I'll be having a severe struggle to survive on my own, or at least until the merge." Liz pointed out. "However, that's when I remembered something: Mugg is going through the exact same thing. Since I know he probably isn't capable of forming a plan without Kayo, this could make him a good ally."_

"You want to form an alliance?" Mugg asked.

"For now, anyway. Let's face it; we've both been relying on the people that we got separated from." Liz said. "We both know that we're not used to being alone, and the other players would probably only bring us into their alliance as a third wheel."

Mugg paused in thought, then nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right." He said.

"I know you don't like it, and I like it even less, but the only people we have to rely on now is each other." Liz said. "So how about it? Temporary truce?"

Mugg gave a smirk and nodded. "Sounds good to me." He said.

"_Liz and I have been at odds due to being on opposing alliances, but now that we're on our own, we need to help each other." Mugg said. "Neither of us trusts the other, but what can we do? We've got no other choice."_

"_I needed a new alliance because I've seen the Roka players warming up to Inferno. The only place I could have gone is with Mugg." Liz said. "I know it'll be hard to bear being in an alliance with someone I'm not fond of, but we both agree that our choices are severely limited with Grace and Kayo on the other tribe."_

Knowing that there would be a challenge the following day, the two tribes went to bed to prepare themselves for it.

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 13)**

"_We're expecting a challenge today. Now that we're down to two tribes, I'm betting that we'll be having more Reward Challenges." Fleecy said. "However, Bianca and I want to make sure we're ready for anything just in case a curve ball is thrown at us and it turns out to be an Immunity Challenge."_

"We need to make sure to expect anything." Fleecy pointed out.

"I just hope it's not a strength challenge." Bianca said. "We only got lucky the last time because Luther seemed to let go on purpose."

"I know. I don't think we'll have another strength challenge so soon after the last, though." Fleecy said. "A best-case scenario would be a trivia challenge."

"Yeah. I think we could beat them at one of those."

"_I'm not saying that our tribe is weak, but when you consider the only real strong people we have are Yori, Kayo and myself compared to the other tribe having Inferno, Luther, Tokyo AND Mugg, it's not that good by comparison." Bianca pointed out. "A strength challenge would be bad for us, so we need to hope that it's a mental challenge."_

Meanwhile, Edwina and Renaldo made sure that they were the ones to get treemail. Renaldo looked around to make sure no one was looking as Edwina pulled an envelope from the box.

"Time for a challenge, it looks like." Edwina said.

"May as well go find the others before they find us." Renaldo added.

"We've got treemail!" Edwina said as she and Renaldo came over with the letter.

"Does it say if it's a Reward Challenge?" Kayo asked.

"No. It just asks how good we are with puzzles."

"Thank goodness it isn't a physical challenge." Bianca shook her head.

"_I wouldn't mind it if it was a physical challenge. I'm sure I can outmuscle most of the other guys." Kayo shrugged. "But I guess beggars can't be choosers since we just had a physical challenge. Too bad the win was give to us because I would have preferred to earn the victory."_

"_I'm just glad that it doesn't seem to be a physical challenge, because we'd totally lose at that. We just need to hope a puzzle is where we'd excel." Renaldo pointed out. "I just hope that it's Reward Challenge, because if we lose, I'm not liking our chances."_

**(Roka Tribe; Day 13)**

"You think it's going to be a Reward Challenge today?" Luther asked.

"I imagine it would." Tokyo replied. "We haven't really had one yet."

"_It's now Day 13. We're one-third of the way through the competition, so now it's time to start playing for real." Tokyo said. "We can expect some more Reward Challenges now that there are only two teams, so that means that the other team's going to be trying extra-hard to win. This means that we're going to have to retaliate accordingly."_

"Um…Have you seen Inferno?" Tokyo asked as he looked around.

"He wasn't in the shelter when I got up." Luther shrugged.

In reality, Inferno was around the far side of the shelter, having a talk with Carly. The Muppet girl had pulled him aside earlier to talk to him.

"You're saying that you're looking for an ally?" Inferno asked.

"Yeah. One betrayed me and the other was voted out, so I'm literally on my own." Carly said.

"_I'm hoping my positive personality can win some people to my side since I don't have any allies at the moment." Carly said. "I wanted to wait until Lucy got voted out before I started making new plans, so now that she's gone, I think I'd have a better chance at getting on the good side of the Malabar players."_

"_I kinda like Carly. She's upbeat, cheerful and doesn't seem down that she's been without a partner for a number of days." Inferno shrugged. "I'll see how things pan out over the next few days. If the situation calls for it, I'd totally try to save her from elimination, but I need to know I'd be making the best decision in the long run."_

"We've got treemail." Liz announced as she walked into the middle of the camp with an envelope.

"Is it Reward or Immunity?" Luther asked.

"Doesn't say." Liz shook her head. "It just says 'How good are you with puzzles'?"

"Well, it's not a physical task. There goes our advantage." Tokyo mused.

"We can still beat them. I mean, if it's just a big puzzle and we do it together, we can still come out on top." Mugg said.

"That's the hope. I'm sick of losing everything." Tokyo sighed.

"_So we've got a puzzle challenge instead of a physical challenge. No big deal. We can still beat the other team." Mugg assured. "Sure, it'll be hard not using an asset you're used to using, but you take what you get here, because you don't win the game by losing challenges."_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Sa'zan Tribe stood on their mat, awaiting the challenge to start. Roka's mat was, as of now, empty.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the Roka Tribe." SSBFreak pointed out. Everyone looked and saw the other tribe coming in, seeing who was absent. "Lucy was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

The Sa'zan Tribe looked somewhat indifferent to Lucy being gone, but also looked a little surprised that she was gone as the Roka Tribe stepped onto their mat.

"Welcome to your first official Reward Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be seeing how good you guys are with mind-bending puzzles." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw two large puzzles in the middle of the clearing they were all in. The puzzles contained many tiles of multi-coloured snakes that turned and crossed paths at almost every turn. "You may remember these types of puzzles, where only one position is the correct way to solve the puzzle. As you see, there are multi-coloured snakes on all of the panels to the puzzles, so your task for this challenge is obviously to complete it. To make things easier for your all, each of the tiles is in the correct place, but they've all been turned the wrong way. The first team to complete their puzzle will win Reward, which is a large mattress for your shelter that will be sure to hold everyone on your tribe."

The two tribes looked amongst themselves, knowing that everyone wanted the reward and would try their hardest at the challenge.

"Sa'zan, you guys have one extra person." SSBFreak announced. "Who will you be sitting out?"

"I'll sit out." Renaldo replied.

"If you guys will approach your puzzles, we can begin."

The two teams walked over to their puzzles and awaited the challenge to start.

"For Reward, Survivors ready?" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The two teams quickly got to work on their puzzle, knowing that they all had to book it if they wanted to win.

"Where do we start?" Bianca asked.

"Put the edge together first." Yori said.

"How do we know how these pieces go?" Kayo asked.

"Look at the border." Yori said, showing that the border had parts of a snake littering it, showing which colour would attach to the border. "This part's purple, so through that, we know that the piece will start with purple."

Yori quickly turned the piece in question until a purple connector had lined up with the image on the border.

"That makes sense. If we put together the outer pieces, we may have an easier time…" Kayo said.

"You think the piece goes like this or this?" Carly asked as she turned a piece to show that the two ends could both connect to the image on the border, being the same colour.

"Choose one and we'll go with it for now." Tokyo said. "If we put together some of the other pieces and it contrasts with that one, we'll change it."

"I think I've got these two pieces done. They seem to line up with each other." Liz said.

"That means we're on the right track." Luther nodded.

The two teams raced to complete their puzzle first, turning the tiles until they had a match with the piece next to it. This continued on for a bit before SSBFreak decided to start asking questions.

"You guys have been at this for fifteen minutes and it's apparent no one is slowing down." SSBFreak said. "Grace, how frustrating would you say this puzzle is?"

"Very. I could never get these puzzles done since the pieces could literally go anywhere." Grace shook her head. "At least we know that all of the pieces are in the right places this time, though."

"Of course. If you had to do the puzzle normally, we'd be here all day." SSBFreak shrugged. "Luther, what are you thinking at the moment?"

"I just want to win the challenge since we've lost so many since we started." Luther replied. "I'm just telling myself that we can do this faster than the others."

"You think that will work?"

"It'll work as long as I KEEP MY CONCENTRATION." Luther pointed out.

SSBFreak blinked a couple of times before turning to the person next to him. "Renaldo, how do you feel about sitting out of this challenge now that you see it in action?" He asked.

"I'm glad I'm not doing it. I hate puzzles." Renaldo shook his head. "And puzzles like these are always ten times harder than normal ones, so it relieves me that I'm not doing it even more."

"Okay. I'll check back in with you guys in a bit." SSBFreak said.

"I don't think that piece goes that way." Kayo said as he pointed to a piece. "It's not connecting with the one next to it."

"Then the one next to it must be the one that's wrong, because I'm positive that piece is the right way up." Grace said.

"How can you be so sure?" Kayo asked. "Look, all of the other pieces around it haven't been touched yet."

"Don't tell me how to think, pal!"

"Guys! Guys!" Fleecy said. "We'll worry about it when we get to it. Let's just focus on doing the other pieces first and work our way forward."

Tokyo smirked as he continued to work on the puzzle. "Keep working at it, guys." He said. "If they get distracted enough, we may be able to slip past them."

"Got it. I think this piece goes this way…" Mugg said as he twisted a piece into place.

"Wait. Maybe not. See the piece beside it?" Carly asked as she pointed. "There's a blue part connecting to a red part."

"Oh, yeah. I guess it was upside-down." Mugg said as he turned the tile over, making a better fit.

"I don't get this panel." Tokyo noted as he pointed to a panel. "It doesn't seem to attach to anything."

"We'll worry about it when we get to it. Just focus on the puzzle, man." Inferno instructed.

The two teams continued to work on their puzzles. It took a little bit, but both of the teams looked like they were approaching completion of half their puzzles. It was apparent that the puzzle was starting to take its toll on the players, but they pressed on anyway.

"You guys have been working on the puzzle for half an hour and you're still going strong." SSBFreak said. "Bianca, is the puzzle starting to take its toll on your mind at this point?"

"It's getting there, but I've still got some stamina in me." Bianca said. "I'm giving this all I've got, but I'm starting to see colours differently after looking at them for so long."

"Do you think everyone's going to end up like that?"

"Anyone can start seeing things if you give it enough time."

"Inferno, you guys seem to be going strong. What's your secret?" SSBFreak asked.

"We're just focusing on the task at hand and making sure that we don't overlook anything." Inferno replied as he twisted a panel to line it up with a couple of others.

"It seems that's what both teams are doing, but you guys are slightly ahead of the others."

"I couldn't tell you, then." Inferno shrugged. "We've been so focused on the puzzle that we haven't seen where the others are at."

"Yori, you guys are trailing a bit. Why do you think that is?" SSBFreak asked.

"We've got a few disagreements that we need to sort out as we go." Yori sighed. "From the sound of things, the other team doesn't have that problem."

"Who's at fault for this?"

"I'm not throwing stones, pal. I'm far smarter than that." Yori shook her head.

"Carly, what's going through your mind?" SSBFreak asked.

"I'm excited that we're going through the puzzle with little problems. This means we've got a shot at winning." Carly replied. "That's the only thing on my mind at the moment."

"I'll check back in with you guys a little later." SSBFreak said.

"Keep it up, guys. We've got about a third of the puzzle left." Liz whispered as she twisted a panel. "You guys think the panel goes like this?"

"Looks like it. It'll connect to the other two pieces properly, so it has to be right." Inferno nodded.

"Okay. This piece goes like that and this goes like that…" Luther mused. "Tokyo, I think your piece may be twisted the wrong way."

Tokyo inspected the pieces a couple of times. "Hmm…I dunno. I think you may have yours wrong. Mine won't connect with the other one if it's any other way." He said.

Luther looked at his piece and saw that his would connect a different way. He promptly twisted it again to make it work.

"Looking good. We're getting close to finishing." Inferno said. "If we can do it quickly, we've got this challenge in the bag."

Meanwhile, the Sa'zan Tribe was still putting together their puzzle, although at a slower pace for obvious reasons.

"Kayo, your piece is backwards! It should be the other way around!" Grace said.

"That's impossible! Mine's connecting with the other two around it!" Kayo insisted. "Yours must be the messed-up one!"

"My piece is connecting properly as well! It's just yours that it's not connecting with!"

"Will you two stop it?" Fleecy asked. "If it bothers you two that much, skip it and we'll come back to it!"

"But the problem is that her piece isn't twisted right!"

"No, the problem is that HIS piece isn't twisted right!"

"Uh…The problem is that you're both right." Edwina said as she twisted both Grace's and Kayo's pieces to connect both of them properly.

Yori couldn't help but give a smirk as the team went back to work, although Grace and Kayo did it shamefully.

The two teams continued to build their puzzles and the Roka Tribe quickly gained on their lead over the Sa'zan Tribe. However, when Tokyo finished twisting the last piece, the puzzle still didn't look complete.

"I don't get it." Tokyo said. "By all figures, we should have it completed by now."

"I can see a couple of places where the colours don't match." Mugg pointed out.

"Where'd we make the mistake?" Liz asked.

"You guys have been going for forty-five minutes. It seems that the Roka Tribe is done, but they're off by a bit." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, do you think you guys can catch up?"

"I hope so. We just need to hope they don't find out what they did wrong." Edwina nodded as she worked furiously on the puzzle.

"Kayo, do you-"

"Can't talk now! I'm trying to get the puzzle done!" Kayo said as he started twisting pieces.

Meanwhile, the Roka Tribe was still inspecting their puzzle. Carly's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait! I think I know what we did wrong!" She said.

"Where is it?" Liz asked.

"It's up at the top!" Carly said. "Mugg, can you give me a boost?"

Mugg shrugged. "Sure." He said as he lifted Carly up and held her up to the puzzle.

Carly made quick work of the puzzle, twisting five of the pieces at the top around a couple of times until they were all connecting.

"We did it! We're done!" Carly announced.

"That's it! The challenge is done!" SSBFreak said. "Roka wins Reward!"

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on your first official win, Roka. As a reward, the mattress will be delivered to your camp and you'll find it in your shelter when you get back." SSBFreak said. The Roka Tribe looked pleased that they had won the challenge. He then turned to the Sa'zan Tribe. "Sa'zan, I have nothing for you. All I can say is that I hope you guys make up for it in the Immunity Challenge, because that's where it's really going to count."

SSBFreak stepped back to look at everyone. "You can all head back to camp."

**(Roka Tribe)**

"_We won our first challenge and I helped us win it! I feel on top of the world right now! The best part is that we won a huge mattress that's big enough for us all to sleep on." Carly said. "It feels good to win a challenge, so I hope this is the start of a streak of good luck for us. At least we proved to Lucy that we don't need her to win challenges."_

"Oh, this mattress is amazing!" Carly said as she lay on the mattress inside the shelter. "We've been sleeping on the hard floor for so long I forgot what a soft bed felt like."

"We totally rocked that challenge, man!" Inferno said. "I wonder how we beat them so badly."

"Grace and Kayo were arguing so much." Liz shook her head. "You and I both know they've been at odds since we started."

"Yeah. You're probably right."

"_One of the reasons we won that challenge was probably because of the bickering between Grace and Kayo." Inferno pointed out. "I know the other tribe's probably faulting them for it, but I actually hope they both stick around a while. It would give us some easy wins, for starters."_

"The main thing is that we won the challenge." Tokyo said. "This would be our first win since we started."

"Now we just need to hope our luck continues at the Immunity Challenge." Luther said.

"_I feel especially good at winning because Lucy kept making it a point that we apparently needed her." Luther said. "Isn't it ironic that we win a challenge the instant we get rid of her? Well, now that she's gone, the game picks up for real and we have the confidence to help us win future challenges."_

"Well, now what?" Mugg asked.

"There'll be an Immunity Challenge tomorrow." Tokyo said with a smirk. "At least we'll be well-rested for it because of our reward."

"Yeah. Hopefully, the challenge will play to our strengths as opposed to the others."

"_Well, winning the challenge was a nice change of pace considering we lost the last one. However, we're not out of the woods yet." Liz said. "The Immunity Challenge is where it counts, and we need to make sure we're prepared for it."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"That sucked. That sucked big time." Bianca sighed. "We were making such good progress as well."

"And it's thanks to you two that we lost." Fleecy said as she looked at Grace and Kayo.

"What do you mean? I was working on the puzzle as best as I could!" Grace insisted.

"And you were also shouting insults with Kayo the entire time." Fleecy replied. "Kayo, you're just as bad. We couldn't get anything done with you two arguing and we needed all of the hands we could get in the challenge."

"_Fleecy took the initiative to blame Kayo and Grace for the loss we had, not that I blame her. It IS technically their fault we lost." Bianca folded her arms. "The rest of us found it hard to concentrate with both of them arguing so much. I almost wish we didn't pick the two of them when choosing new tribe mates."_

"Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it now." Edwina shook her head. "We just need to hope that we can do better tomorrow."

"Fine." Grace and Kayo said as they walked away from each other.

"_I hate Kayo and wish I still wasn't on the same team as him. I blame him for our loss, especially since he got so unnecessarily mad at me." Grace said. "Well, I'm going to prove to him sooner or later that I'm perfectly capable of getting rid of him when I wanted. I would just need the help of a few other people to do it."_

"_Grace was doing a horrible job at the puzzle. Of course I had to step in and fix her mistakes." Kayo insisted. "If she thinks she's capable of eliminating me, she's got another thing coming. I'll just need to pull a few strings around here to help me stay in the game and get Grace kicked out."_

Edwina and Renaldo suddenly noticed that Yori was sitting aside. The two looked at each other before walking over to the cyborg.

"Yori, why didn't you step in?" Edwina asked.

"Yeah. They'd be more intimidated by you to be quiet than the rest of us." Renaldo added.

"I just don't like getting involved in things that aren't my business." Yori shrugged.

"_Well, not really. Basically, it's all a part of my strategy. I want to make sure that there's conflict in the tribe so I can get through the round." Yori explained. "Because of this, I want to make sure I keep both Grace and Kayo around as long as possible, because it'll take attention off myself."_

The two tribes went to bed when night rolled in. Knowing that there would be an Immunity Challenge, everyone went to sleep.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 14)**

"_We got lucky yesterday and scored our first win, but we're not in the clear yet. That was Reward, and we've got Immunity today." Tokyo noted. "We need to be ready for anything, especially if we want to repeat our success from yesterday. We also know that the other team's going to be trying even harder now, so we'll have to up the ante even more."_

Tokyo looked around, seeing the rest of the tribe scattered around the camp. He walked over to Inferno and Mugg. "How's the mattress?" He asked.

"Sweet. Definitely the best sleep I've had out here." Inferno nodded.

"Yeah. It'll be nice sleeping on that for the rest of the game." Mugg added.

"Well, changing topics, I was wondering if we could talk strategy just in case we lose the challenge." Tokyo said. "Lucy said that she wanted Carly and Liz to go first, and as much as I hate to agree with her, I think she had the most-logical plan."

"Yeah. We'll just have to see how things pan out during the challenge." Inferno replied.

Mugg remained silent, but appeared to agree with Tokyo.

"_Liz and I may not like each other, but we want to make sure we keep this alliance a secret. I could vote Liz out, but that means I'd be a sitting duck." Mugg pointed out. "If I want to survive until I meet up with Kayo again, I need to keep Liz around so she can help me."_

"Looks like we've got some treemail, guys." Liz announced as she walked over.

"Time for the Immunity Challenge, then." Luther said, cracking his knuckles.

"It just says 'Who on your team is a good swimmer'?" Liz read.

"I hope there's more to the challenge than that." Carly said. "I'm not the best swimmer…"

"Well, I guess we're going to find out when we get to the beach." Liz noted. "We may as well head out and see what the challenge is."

"_We know we have to be on our toes for this challenge, and we want to avoid going to Tribal Council again." Liz said, folding her arms and sighing. "From the sounds of things, the challenge will involve some swimming. I'd be okay with that, but I can't speak for the others on my team. It can go either way."_

"_I'm a Muppet! Muppets don't swim well!...Well, except for Kermit, obviously, but he's a frog!" Carly said. "I'm about as good in water as the Swedish Chef is at cooking, so that should tell you how much trouble I'm in. If we don't win this challenge, I know I'm a target, so if it comes to it, I'll have to get in the water regardless…"_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 14)**

"…If we lose this challenge, I'm voting for you!"

"The same goes for me, but in case you forgot, I'm stronger than you!"

"Only physically! I have you beaten in every mental aspect!"

"_I woke up to the sound of Kayo and Grace arguing. This is perfect. If I can keep them both around long enough, then people will just pick them both off without thinking twice." Yori said with a smirk. "But in order to keep them both around, I need to take out someone on the other alliances. This also means Kayo and Grace will need to vote together."_

"It's good to see you guys awake." Yori said. "I was hoping I could talk to you guys about something."

Grace and Kayo glared at each other before Grace looked at Yori. Kayo folded his arms and looked away. "What is it?" She asked.

"I need help in splitting up an alliance." Yori said. "Edwina and Renaldo would be tough to take down later, and so would Bianca and Fleecy. I think that if we separate the two alliances as quickly as we can, we'll have no problem later on in the game."

Kayo was silent for a few seconds. "Would they really be that big of a threat?" He asked.

"You two haven't been on the same team as them for the entire game." Yori said. "If we don't take them out the first chance we get, we'll pay for it later."

"_I'm not big on focusing on other people first since I would like nothing more than to vote Kayo out." Grace pointed out. "However, Yori gave us some good reasons to vote against the others, so I suppose I'll go with it for now. The only real question is which team should we go after first?"_

"Hey! We've got treemail!" Edwina announced as she came over. "This must be for the Immunity Challenge!"

"Time for us to redeem ourselves." Fleecy nodded. "What does the letter say?"

"It just asks if there's anyone on our team that's a good swimmer." Edwina replied.

"I hope your robotic parts are okay in water." Bianca noted to Yori.

"I mentioned when we started that I'm fine. In fact, I should be asking YOU that." Yori smirked. Bianca rolled her eyes.

"_We lost the challenge yesterday, but we can still win the more-important one today. We're determined to get the job done, and that's a help in itself." Fleecy pointed out. "I do hope that there's going to be more to the challenge than swimming, but if not, I'm definitely going to try and win it either way."_

"_Why would I come on this show if I had a problem with water? Biankies swim all of the time and never malfunction!" Bianca insisted. "I don't know whether Yori was joking or mocking me, but I didn't think it was funny either way. Besides, I had a right to ask about her robotic parts, didn't I? I mean, she IS a cyborg…"_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The remaining players emerged from the jungle and onto the beach. They quickly saw their mats standing aside, so they all walked over and got on them so the challenge could start.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will see who's better at swimming and who's better at unscrambling letters." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw two boards sitting aside with six empty slots. "In the water are several bags, each coloured with your tribe's colour. In three of your tribe's bags are two letters, and all three must be collected on separate attempts. However, the rest of the bags have rocks in them, so you don't know which ones have the letters in them. Three people from each team will be swimming and collecting the bags, giving them to the three people at the puzzle. Once all three bags have been collected, the three solving players will then unscramble the letters inside to make the winning word. The first team to correctly unscramble the letters will win Immunity and be safe from elimination tonight."

Everyone looked at each other. Some people looked visibly relieved that they wouldn't need to be swimming.

"Sa'zan, you guys have one extra player. Who's sitting out?" SSBFreak asked.

"I will." Fleecy replied.

"Okay. If you guys will choose your players, then we'll start."

**(Later…)**

It didn't take very long for the two tribes to make their decisions. For Roka, the swimmers were Tokyo, Luther and Liz, while the solvers were Mugg, Inferno and Carly. For Sa'zan, the swimmers were Bianca, Renaldo and Kayo while the solvers were Yori, Edwina and Grace.

"Okay, for Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The six swimmers quickly raced from their starting points and made a mad dash into the water. One quick swim later and the swimmers had arrived at the marked location where the bags were underwater. Tokyo, Liz and Kayo were the first swimmers to go underwater while the others were right behind them.

The solvers waited impatiently at their respective boards, waiting for one of the swimmers to come up from the water with a bag.

"How many bags do you think are under the water?" Carly asked.

"We'll probably find out soon, but there's probably enough down there to risk having several mistakes before finding one with letters." Inferno shrugged.

"Man. This almost seems like a test of complete luck." Mugg shook his head.

Renaldo suddenly emerged from the water and took a huge breath. "There…There must be at least twenty bags for each team down there!" He said. "And they're all tied to the ground!"

"Of course they are. We want you guys to work for it." SSBFreak pointed out. "And there are twenty-four bags for each team, to be precise."

Renaldo sighed and went back under the water. As he did, Liz and Tokyo emerged from the water for Roka, while Kayo emerged for Sa'zan. They each held a bag.

"Hopefully, these have letters in them." Liz said as she hauled her bag to shore.

"Come on, Kayo!" Edwina shouted. "If your bag has letters, we're still in it!"

The three swimmers rushed to shore and opened their bags, dumping the contents out by the boards their tribe was at.

Unfortunately, nothing except rocks came out of any of the three bags.

"Crap! No dice!" Tokyo said as he tossed the empty bag aside and raced back into the water.

Kayo sighed. "Well, it's one less bag at least." He noted.

As the three swimmers ran back into the water, Luther and Bianca emerged from the water with bags. A few seconds later and Renaldo also emerged, but without a bag.

"Renaldo, you went under two times! How could you have NOT found a bag?" Yori shouted.

"Try untying a knot underwater sometime!" Renaldo countered as he went under a third time.

Luther and Bianca ran to shore at the same time. Bianca, being a faster runner, reached her tribe first, opened the bag and dumped its contents out. Unfortunately, there was nothing but rocks.

In the meantime, Luther had reached his tribe and dumped the contents of his own bag on the sand. Three letters emerged, putting the Roka Tribe on the board.

"Alright! That's one out of three!" Carly said.

"Good. Be right back." Luther nodded as he turned around and ran back to the water.

"The Roka Tribe has found one-third of their word." SSBFreak pointed out. "The Sa'zan Tribe has yet to score."

"Come on, guys!" Fleecy called out from the sidelines. "They're not that far ahead!"

Kayo emerged from the water again, carrying another bag. Shaking his head to clear his bangs of water, Kayo trudged to shore. At the same time, Tokyo emerged from the water again.

"How heavy is the bag compared to the other one?" Yori asked as Kayo approached.

"I think all of the bags are the same weight." Kayo replied as he opened his bag to reveal another handful of rocks. "Great. Still nothing."

"You guys need to hurry if we want to catch up with the others." Grace pointed out.

"I KNOW that!" Kayo snapped as he ran back to the water.

Liz came out of the water with another bag as Renaldo did the same, finally with a bag. Liz was quick to make it back to shore as Renaldo looked rather tired.

"Come on, Liz! Let's see what you got!" Inferno said.

Liz quickly arrived, opened her bag and unloaded it. Nothing but rocks emerged from the bag. "Man. This is getting rough." Liz sighed.

"You're whittling down the number, man! Keep going!" Inferno urged.

Renaldo finally made it to his team, holding his bag.

"What took you so long?" Grace asked.

"Like I said, they're tied to the bottom." Renaldo sighed as he unloaded his bag. Three letters rolled out of it. "Oh! Hey! I found one with letters!"

"Sa'zan ties up the game!" SSBFreak announced.

"Good, now get back in there and keep going!" Yori said.

Renaldo sighed. "Fine." He moaned as he trudged back into the water.

Meanwhile, Luther emerged from the water again. Right after he did, Tokyo and Bianca came out of the water at the same time. The three raced back to land, starting to look a little tired by now. Luther reached the shore first and went over to his waiting team-mates.

"I hope we get some more letters soon." Mugg said. "The other tribe caught up with us."

Luther quickly unloaded his bag, but saw that there were only rocks inside it. "Crap. I gotta go back." He said as he tossed the bag away.

Bianca reached the shore next. Unfortunately, she still didn't get anything except rocks. "We're must be getting unlucky." She said. "We're running out of bags underwater."

"Less talking, more searching! They can get ahead at any second!" Yori said.

"We can still do this!" Edwina said. "Keep trying!"

Tokyo reached the shore and unloaded his bag, revealing a second set of three letters. "Sweet!" He cheered.

"The Roka Tribe now has two-thirds of their word!" SSBFreak announced.

"We've almost got it! We just need one more bag of letters!" Carly said.

"They've only got one more bag to find, guys!" Fleecy warned.

Kayo came to shore next, holding a bag. He was looking fatigued, but still brought the bag to shore and unloaded it, revealing several rocks.

"How many bags are even left under the water?" Grace asked. "You guys seem to be missing the right ones!"

"Don't blame us, Grace! It's a game of chance!" Kayo countered as he ran back to the water.

Kayo went back into the water as Liz came out, revealing that she had collected another bag.

"Come on! Come on! This could be it!" Carly said excitedly.

Unfortunately, the excitement soon ended, as Liz's bag was once again filled with rocks. The rocker girl, getting frustrated at how long it was taking, could only let out a moan as she ran back to the water.

Renaldo emerged from the water, once again without a bag. Not wanting to go through another verbal lashing, Renaldo simply took a deep breath and went under again, hoping to completely undo the knot at the bag he was currently at.

Bianca and Luther emerged from the water again, each with a bag. The two ran back to shore and raced over to their tribes. Bianca, the faster runner got there first once again. The Bianky unloaded her bag, revealing three letters.

"Sa'zan ties the score again!" SSBFreak announced.

"Okay, that's two. We just need one more bag." Yori nodded.

"We can totally do this!" Edwina said.

However, just after Bianca unloaded her bag, Luther unloaded his. Three letters emerged from Luther's bag, completing the word.

"Roka just found their third bag! All they have to do is unscramble the word!" SSBFreak said.

"That's it! That's three!" Carly cheered.

"Quick! What do we have?" Inferno asked.

"Uh…Two R's, two S's, two V's, an I, an O and a U." Mugg replied.

Inferno pondered the word for a few seconds before smirking. "That's dead easy! Come on, you two! Help me with this!" He urged.

Inferno, Mugg and Carly quickly put the six letters on the board, revealing the word 'SURVIVORS'.

"Dude, we're done!" Inferno called out.

SSBFreak looked at the completed word and nodded. "Roka has done it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Roka wins Immunity!"

The Roka Tribe cheered as Tokyo and Liz rushed back to shore. The Sa'zan Tribe looked frustrated at the loss.

Renaldo suddenly came up and looked around. "Did we win?" He asked.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Roka. You are all safe tonight and none of you will be voted out." SSBFreak said as he turned to the losing team. "Sa'zan, I'll be seeing you guys at Tribal Council tonight, where you'll be voting out one of your own. I'll give you the rest of the afternoon to decide who that person will be, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

The two teams dispersed again, going back into the jungle. The Roka Tribe looked pleased at their first Immunity win, while Sa'zan looked to be thinking of who to vote out.

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"How could you have taken so long? We could have won!" Grace asked.

"You can't blame me! You didn't even DO anything!" Kayo countered.

"I couldn't until you guys collected all of the right bags!"

"_Well, we lost Immunity and already Grace and Kayo are at each other's throats for it. I don't want either of them to go tonight because it creates friction, but the hard part is getting them to align with each other." Yori explained. "I need to convince them that splitting up one of the two alliances is best for now."_

"Okay, you know what? I'm just going to vote you out tonight!" Grace threatened.

"Good luck getting votes, because it's clear I'm stronger than you are!" Kayo countered.

"Guys, if you'll stop your arguing, we need to talk." Yori said as she came over. "I know that neither of you like each other, but I want the other alliances split up first. They're bigger threats."

"But…Why do we have to put up with this?" Grace asked.

"The reward is worth it in the long run. Believe me."

Meanwhile, Fleecy and Bianca were talking by the fire pit. Having heard the argument, they started making a plan.

"It sounds like Grace and Kayo may be targeting each other." Bianca noted. "Who should we go for?"

"Renaldo. He did the worst in the challenge." Fleecy replied.

"_Renaldo showed us that we wasn't the best swimmer and he proved that he was majorly struggling in the challenge." Fleecy explained. "Bianca and I are voting for him, but we'll need more votes. We can't rely on Edwina to vote for Renaldo, so that limits our choice to Yori."_

"You think we can get Yori to vote with us?" Bianca asked.

"We'll have to try, since it's the only choice we have." Fleecy sighed.

Meanwhile, the other alliance of two was over by the shelter, pondering their situation.

"They're going to be targeting me. I just know it." Renaldo moaned.

"Why would they target you when Grace and Kayo have been yelling at each other, though?" Edwina asked.

"You saw how I did in the challenge. I know they're coming after me for costing us the win!"

Edwina appeared to be in thought for a few seconds. "Well, I've heard possibilities of your name being brought up, but how about this?" She asked. "I give you the idol and you play it. We'll vote for someone else and they'll get the boot instead."

"That may be our only chance. We'll have to take it."

"_I know the others will be gunning for me because I lost us the challenge. The plus is that we have the Hidden Immunity Idol, but it'll only work once." Renaldo noted. "I can play it to save myself, but after doing so, I'll need to prove to the rest of the team that I'm worth keeping around."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The seven members of Sa'zan entered Tribal Council, carrying their lit torches again. Walking over to the empty stumps, everyone sat down to await the beginning of the council.

"Welcome to your first post-swap Tribal Council, Sa'zan. You may not have come here much, but I suppose it was inevitable in the end." SSBFreak said. "In a moment, you'll all be voting one of your own out of the game." He looked around at the contestants before starting to ask questions. "Fleecy, how has tribe life been since you took in two members of the Malabar Tribe?"

"We thought it would be a good move since we got two pretty strong players." Fleecy said. "We weren't expecting Grace and Kayo to hate each other like they do."

"Why do you think that is?"

"I don't know. Something obviously happened at Malabar, but none of us really want to find out what."

"Grace, how about you fill us in and tell us what you and Kayo have against each other?" SSBFreak asked.

"Kayo and I have been gunning for each other since we started. We were on opposite alliances and we only teamed up to take down a bigger threat." Grace replied, arms folded. "Not only did we get pulled into the same tribe together, but both of our alliance partners are stuck on the other tribe without us."

"You and Kayo still don't like each other?"

"Of course not. In fact, I'd say it's gotten worse since we don't have our alliance partners to confide in." Grace muttered.

"Yori, how do you think the vote is going to go tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"As much as stopping the arguing and voting out Grace or Kayo sounds good, I'd prefer to vote out someone that isn't as strong." Yori explained. "We voted out a stronger player last time we were here, after all."

"What kind of logic are you putting into your choice?"

"Someone who doesn't do as well in challenges. This early in the game, we want to get rid of liabilities."

Renaldo sulked and the host noticed. "You think she's talking about you, Renaldo?" SSBFreak asked.

"Yeah. I mean, I know I'm obviously a target because of my poor performance in the challenges." Renaldo replied. "I know I can do better, though! We just haven't come across any challenges that play to my strengths yet!"

"Edwina, who's getting your vote?" SSBFreak asked.

"I don't care about voting out another strong person. I just want this senseless argument to end." Edwina replied. "I, for one, and voting for Kayo."

"Any particular reason?"

"If only for the reason that I figure I'd get along with Grace better."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Grace, you're up."

Grace got up, left the hut and approached the voting table. She looked mad, but remained silent as she wrote a name down and placed it into the urn.

Edwina walked up to the table. "I just hope this works." She said as she wrote a name down and shoved it into the jar.

Fleecy approached the table and showed her vote to the camera. "You technically cost us the win. The others should see that." She said, having voted for Renaldo.

Kayo looked just as mad as Grace as he wrote a name down. "I wish I could vote for Grace right now." He lamented as he voted and left the table.

Bianca quickly scribbled a name down. "You are a logical target." She said as she placed her ballot into the urn and left without another word.

Renaldo wrote a name down and revealed Kayo's name. "Edwina and I think you're more at fault in the arguments." He pointed out as he voted and left.

Yori quickly wrote a name down. "Okay. Let's see if this works." She said as she put her vote into the urn and left the table.

SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to-"

"Hold up a minute."

Everyone watched as Renaldo stood up and revealed the treemail box emblem from the tribe. "I found this and I'd like to play it." He said as he approached the host and handed the emblem to him.

Grace lifted an eyebrow. "Wait. Are you seriously trying that?" She asked. "That's the emblem from the treemail box. It's not-"

"This is indeed the Sa'zan Hidden Immunity Idol." SSBFreak interrupted. "All votes cast against Renaldo are now void."

This took Grace and Kayo off guard. "What? Those emblems really ARE the Hidden Immunity Idols?" Kayo asked.

"They are indeed." SSBFreak nodded. "It's now time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Renaldo. Doesn't count." Kayo and Grace looked at each other in shock.

"Renaldo. Doesn't count." Renaldo looked visibly relieved.

"…Kayo." Kayo bit his lip.

"Kayo. He leads with two." Kayo was hoping that the vote would pull through.

"…Fleecy." Bianca and Fleecy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Fleecy." The entire Tribal Council was tense. "Last vote and sixth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Fleecy. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"W-What?...What just happened?" Fleecy asked. "Why was I even targeted?"

Nevertheless, Fleecy got up, gathered her torch and approached the host.

"Fleecy, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Fleecy's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Kick their butts, Bianca." Fleecy said as she left Tribal Council.

Once Fleecy was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "Another Tribal Council is finished and a Hidden Immunity Idol was used, despite the owner not needing it." SSBFreak said. "There are twelve of you left, but the game's just beginning. You're still in team phase, so you need to act hard to make sure you don't come back here again. You can all head back to camp."

The six remaining Sa'zan players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Edwina and Renaldo brought up the rear, the latter looking worried and guilty. He had used the Hidden Immunity Idol when he didn't really need to. Now he had just made himself and Edwina bigger targets. He needed to act fast to try and sway attention…

"_Am I bitter about being voted out? Kind of. I proved that I could tangle with the best of them despite not having any arms and I lasted one-third of the competition." Fleecy said. "I guess there's nothing to really be ashamed of since the vote was out of my control. I just hope that Bianca can overcome the obstacles without me, but I have faith in her."_

**Voting History:**

**Fleecy – Grace, Kayo and Yori**

**Renaldo – Bianca and Fleecy (NOT COUNTED)**

**Kayo – Edwina and Renaldo**

Author's Note: Coming into this, I always knew Fleecy would be an early boot, but I didn't want her to be a SUPER early boot. I wanted to establish the fact that she could indeed play the game with no hands, and then blindside her when you guys may have started thinking that she actually had a chance.


	7. Days 15 to 16

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

The Sa'zan Tribe walked back into camp, some looking more shocked than others. Obviously, the most-shocked ones were Kayo, Grace and Bianca, for obvious reasons.

"_Fleecy got eliminated, and since I know those votes couldn't have come from Edwina and Renaldo, I know Yori and the others are responsible." Bianca said darkly. "I don't know why they decided to vote off Fleecy, though. I don't understand how they could have seen her as a threat."_

"Why exactly did we vote out Fleecy? I don't think she was a threat…" Grace told Yori suspiciously.

"Fleecy was the craftier of the two. Bianca is stronger, so that helps us, but at the same time, Fleecy is way smarter." Yori explained.

"Yori!"

Yori looked over and saw Bianca storming over. Grace and Kayo took the chance to make themselves scarce as the angry Bianky approached.

"How could you vote out Fleecy? I thought we were voting out Renaldo!" Bianca demanded.

"Fleecy was holding us back because she didn't have hands." Yori waved it off.

"_Okay. I split up one of the major alliances, although I think Bianca is taking things a little harder than I anticipated." Yori mused. "I need to focus on the other alliance next, because if there are alliances, they become threats later on."_

Meanwhile, Grace and Kayo walked off, still surprised at the turn of events.

"I can't believe it. All this time, the emblems off the treemail boxes were the Hidden Immunity Idols." Grace shook her head.

"We wasted so much time looking for the idol at our old camp when it was right under our noses." Kayo agreed.

"_The revelation of the Hidden Immunity Idol's location was a huge surprise, but then I suddenly realized something. Pierre was eliminated while he was actually in POSESSION of the idol, and he thought he had a fake!" Grace laughed. "Man! I wish I could see the look on his face at the Loser's Lodge whenever he found out!"_

Renaldo sat on a log, looking extremely worried. Edwina sat nearby and sighed.

"I doomed us. I totally doomed us." Renaldo moaned.

"No, you didn't."

"I wasted the idol! Everyone's gonna be onto us!"

"_Edwina and I didn't need to idol, but I used it anyway! Everyone's going to go after us now!" Renaldo said. "I'm pulling both of us down and that's the last thing I want right now! I need to think of a way to get attention off ourselves and I need to do it quickly!"_

The team eventually decided to go to bed, knowing that the competition still wasn't over.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 15)**

"_Everyone's really been searching for the idol. That's been our number one priority since we started, and now we have more people looking for it with the Malabar players here." Tokyo said. "People like Carly and Liz need the idol now, but people like Luther and I need it for later. The only one I don't see actually trying to find the idol is Inferno, but that's fine with me. One less person searching, as far as I'm concerned."_

"You don't have the idol, right?" Tokyo asked Luther.

"No. We'd tell each other if we had it, right?" Luther checked.

"I think so…" Tokyo scratched his head. "I wonder where it is…"

"We've searched the entire camp. Someone must have found it by now." Luther replied.

"That's what I was thinking, but who is most-likely to find it?"

"_Tokyo and I need to figure out who has the idol since no one can seem to find it. Our first guess would be Inferno since he doesn't look like he's trying, but he's been doing that since he got here." Luther explained. "I doubt Mugg would be capable of finding it, so that leaves Carly and Liz as potential idol-holders."_

"So what do we do?" Tokyo asked.

"How about we keep watch for now? If either of the girls drops a hint that they've got the idol, we'll take action." Luther suggested.

"That's probably the best option…"

Meanwhile, Inferno was at the fire pit with Carly. Carly appeared to be taking a break from her search for the real idol.

"I don't understand it. The idol's just nowhere to be found." Carly pouted. "What if I don't find it?"

"I don't know how to tell you this, but you kinda need it." Inferno replied. "I'd like to try and keep you from getting targeted, but I'm not sure how many people I can convince."

"_Convincing people to keep the weakest member of the tribe pre-merge is going to be hard for me to do." Inferno admitted. "As much as I want to help Carly, I think she's only got two hopes: To find the idol or to hope we go on a winning streak."_

"_This isn't good. I think everyone's turned the camp inside out looking for the idol and it still hasn't come up yet. I think that means someone's already found it and isn't telling us." Carly admitted. "I hope Inferno hasn't found it and is holding out on me, because I really want to trust him."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 15)**

Bianca paced back and forth in front of the shelter as Edwina and Renaldo watched her. The small players sat in the shelter and followed Bianca as she walked.

"Uh…What are you doing, Bianca?" Edwina asked, daring to ask first.

"I'm trying to plan my next move. Yori's shown me that I can't trust her by betraying my trust." Bianca replied sharply.

"_I trusted Yori when she told me what was going on. Now that she's voted out my friend, I realize that she can't be trusted by anyone." Bianca said. "And now she has Grace and Kayo working for her and they don't even realize it."_

"_While we're sad that Fleecy got eliminated, Bianca being this angry is good for Renaldo and I. This means that Bianca is focused on Yori and not us." Edwina said. "Maybe she'll want to join up with us."_

"Should I vote out Yori for doing this in the first place or should I target the others to decrease her numbers?" Bianca pondered.

With that, Bianca wandered off, leaving Edwina and Renaldo sitting in the shelter. The former quickly turned to the latter. "See? Bianca's targeting Yori and the others. We can make it an even playing field." She said.

"That's makes me feel a little better, but we still haven't finalized anything." Renaldo said.

"Well, at least we know she isn't going to be trying to get help from the others." Edwina said. "We're literally her only option."

"_Well, seeing Bianca so mad made me feel a little better after wasting the idol last night, but the fact remains that this is only a temporary fix." Renaldo pointed out. "If Edwina and I are going to survive out here, we need to secure an alliance with Bianca, although I can't be too sure because she may be too angry to be swayed."_

"You think we should go see if she wants to join us?" Renaldo asked.

"I don't think she'd listen to reason at this point." Edwina replied. "We'll ask her later, but we'll give her some space for now."

"I hope you're right."

**(Roka Tribe)**

Liz stood at the edge of the shoreline alone, looking out at the ocean. She had her hands in her pockets and appeared to be in thought.

"_Mugg and I joined forces because we got switched to the other tribe without our respective partners. It feels kinda weird since we were on opposite alliances, but it's clear we don't really get along." Liz said. "We could easily side with other alliances to take each other out, but that would make us a target ourselves."_

Liz looked to the side and saw Mugg coming over. "I take it you're bored?" Liz asked.

"Yeah. There's not a whole lot to do around here."

"No one to talk to, either?"

"Yeah. Luther and Tokyo are always together and I can't find Inferno." Mugg shrugged.

"_It's hard finding something to do when stranded on an island for a month. Especially when the only person you can confide in is someone you don't particularly like." Mugg folded his arms. "But the two of us are just going to have to make the best of it and at least try to keep ourselves occupied."_

"So you play in a band?" Mugg asked.

"Yeah. I play guitar." Liz replied. "The band's not big enough to play outside of the city, but we've opened for huge local bands like Milk Can and Chop Chop Master Onion."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Chop Chop Master Onion?" Mugg asked.

"You know him?" A surprised Liz asked.

"He's one of the most-popular rappers around where I come from." Mugg replied. "Man. I didn't realize he came from your world."

"Yeah, I guess he IS one of the most-popular people from my world."

"And I've heard some of the female students at high school say how awesome Milk Can is. How many popular musicians come from where you do?" Mugg asked, looking more surprised.

"A few people, I guess." Liz shrugged. "I mean, those two are the biggest names, but we've got others like the Moose sisters and Teriyaki Yoko."

"Man...What else?"

"_The next thing I knew, Mugg and I were talking about music, and we ended up talking for a good hour and a half." Liz scratched her head. "I honestly never knew he was into the kind of music that came from my world. Maybe getting along with him will be easier than either of us thought at first…"_

"_Looks like I may have been wrong about Liz. She's actually pretty cool after talking with her. I wonder why I thought otherwise…" Mugg asked himself before slapping his forehead. "Because Kayo didn't want me associating with the girls, that's why."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"_While voting out Fleecy was good for me because it decreased the threat of an alliance, I need to focus on the other one now." Yori explained. "Edwina and Renaldo may not be strong, but they'll easily get numbers if I let them. I need to take one of them out next, and I think I have an idea as to whom."_

"Why do you want Edwina out?" Grace asked. "I mean, I'd personally keep her over Renaldo."

"There's more to Edwina than there seems. She's a big fan of the show, so that alone would give her an edge on how to play." Yori explained. "If we let her reach the merge, then she could make it all the way to the end."

"We haven't even reached the merge yet." Grace reminded.

"Why wait when we can take care of things now?"

"_Kayo and I don't like each other, but Yori's getting us to work together and separate the alliances. While I have no problem with that, I'm not sure about her rationale." Grace explained. "I know Edwina and Renaldo aren't that strong, but I think Renaldo is more of a liability at this point."_

"Just for now, unless something else comes up, Edwina is the target." Yori explained to Grace and Kayo.

"Fine. Whatever." Kayo shrugged.

With that, Yori wandered off. Grace looked at Kayo. "Do you seriously think it's a good idea?" She asked.

"Not really, but it gets me further into the game and she gets all the flak in the end." Kayo replied. "You have to admit that it works."

Grace sighed. "I hate it when you're right." She said. A few seconds later and she cast a glance at Kayo. "I still hate you, though."

"Likewise."

"_I personally don't care who gets targeted as long as it isn't me. I'm not worried about Grace because I'm a whole lot stronger than she is, and I could always pitch the idea to Yori to get rid of her after the vote goes her way a couple of times." Kayo reasoned. "I figure she'd owe it to be by then to at least grant me the opportunity to eliminate someone."_

Night fell and the two tribes decided to go to bed. They knew they'd likely have a challenge the following day, but they didn't know which kind.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 16)**

"_I'm in trouble. Thinking things over, I actually won't be able to get people to vote with Carly at ALL." Inferno pointed out. "I mean, I could get Liz to join us, but that would mean that our only targets are the two strongest guys here. Not the smartest move. Carly's going to have to focus on finding that idol."_

"Hey, Tokyo! Can we talk, man?" Inferno asked.

"What's up?" Tokyo asked.

"I'm…Uh…Just wondering who's going to be targeted next." Inferno replied.

"I guess Carly. She's the weakest here." Tokyo replied. "Why?"

"It's just that I've been thinking. We're probably coming up to the merge soon, so why don't we focus on some bigger threats for later in the game?"

"If you think I'm going to sell out Luther, think again." Tokyo replied. "He's been my ally since the start and I'm not about to betray him pre-merge."

"Okay, man. Cool your jets." Inferno insisted. "It was just a thought."

"_Inferno is making me suspicious. He's apparently been showing that he isn't that game-smart, but then he comes to me with that idea of his." Tokyo said. "I think someone needs to keep an eye on him just in case there's more to him than he's letting on."_

"We've got more treemail!" Carly announced as she approached everyone.

"I guess it doesn't say if it's Reward or Immunity, right?" Luther asked.

"No. It just asks how coordinated we are."

"Doesn't sound so bad." Tokyo shrugged.

"_If this challenge is Immunity, I need to give it my all because I know I'm a target. I know none of us want to go back to Tribal Council, but I need the win even more." Carly explained. "If we lose, I'm dead, so I need to at least show them that I want to win out there."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 16)**

"I guess we're going to have a challenge today." Edwina said. "At this point, I'm just unsure as to what it will be."

"I just hope we can convince people to vote with us if something goes wrong." Renaldo noted.

"Grace and Kayo hate each other, and now Bianca is all about taking her anger out on Yori." Edwina replied. "I think we could easily jump on board with voting with them."

"_Edwina's so positive that we'll get people to vote with us, but she should know that Survivor is never that easy unless there's some kind of conspiracy going on." Renaldo pointed out. "I'm just worried that something's going to happen that will cause the vote to go in a completely different direction."_

Edwina and Renaldo looked to see Bianca coming over, looking a little cross. "Guys, I know this is last-minute, but I want to vote for Yori." She explained.

"Made your decision?" Edwina asked.

"Yeah. I think I'd rather take the ringleader out now and focus on her lackeys later." Bianca replied, arms folded.

"Well, we're on board."

"_Yori thought voting out my best friend out here wouldn't have consequences. I want to show her how wrong she is by getting her torch snuffed out." Bianca pointed out. "I hope she learns after this that you shouldn't mess with the friends of someone that can think up some twisted form of revenge."_

"Looks like we've got some treemail." Grace said as she came across the shallow water to the main island.

"What's it say?" Renaldo asked.

"It's asking if we're well-coordinated." Grace replied.

"Perfect." Yori said with a smirk. "If the challenge is what I think it is, we should be okay."

Renaldo, on the other hand, looked around. He looked between Yori and Bianca, and then between Grace and Kayo. He gave a sigh.

"_I hate my life." Renaldo moaned._

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The six Roka players stood on their mat in the middle of a clearing, waiting for the challenge to start.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the Sa'zan Tribe." SSBFreak said as the six Sa'zan players stepped into view and approached their mat. It didn't take long to notice who was absent. "Fleecy was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

The Roka Tribe looked indifferent overall, although there were some slight hints of surprise as the Sa'zan Tribe stepped onto their mat.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we'll see how well you function as a team as well as how strong some of your members are." SSBFreak explained. Everyone saw a couple of large platforms nearby, and saw that there were several bags hanging from trees and poles scattered around the clearing. "Five people from each team will carry the sixth member on one of these platforms, carrying them around this field and collecting bags of their colour, which the carried player must untie from whatever it's hanging from. There are five bags of each colour scattered around the area, and you need to collect all five and then carry your sixth team member AND all five bags across this finish line. Keep in mind that each bag weighs twenty pounds, so that's an extra hundred pounds when all five are collected. The first team to collect all five bags and make it across the finish line will win Immunity and be safe from Tribal Council."

The two teams looked anxious to get started, knowing what was on the line.

"Since we have the same number of people on each tribe, no one will be sitting out." SSBFreak explained. "If you'll choose who will be doing what, we can get started."

**(Later…)**

It didn't take long for either team to make their decision on who would be doing what. Carly and Edwina were perched on top of the carrying platforms as everyone else was holding their respective team's platform on their shoulders. Renaldo, because of his height, was holding his part of the platform high above his head.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The two teams quickly took off, running in different directions. Sa'zan was running towards the closest bag to them as Roka ran off towards another bag nearby.

"They're not coming this way, guys!" Edwina called out.

"They don't want to follow our path and get the challenge congested!" Grace assured. "Just focus on untying the weight when we get there!"

"We can beat them if we hurry. Are you fast at untying knots, Carly?" Tokyo asked.

"I'll try my best." Carly nodded.

The Sa'zan Tribe reached their weight first and pushed Edwina up towards it. Edwina got to work on untying the knot, but she had to wait until her team could push her up high enough.

"You getting it okay, Edwina?" Renaldo asked.

"Uh…Yep. Just give me a second." Edwina said as she scrambled to untie the knot holding the weighted bag in place.

"We don't have a second." Yori instructed. "Hurry up and untie the knot."

"And…Okay! I got it!" Edwina said as she pulled the silver bag down and set it on the platform, making it heavier to carry.

"Sa'zan already has their first bag!" SSBFreak announced.

By now, the Roka Tribe had already arrived at their first bag. The team didn't have to push Carly up as much because the bag was down a little lower, and the Muppet was trying to untie the knot keeping the bag in the air.

"They're already ahead, Carly." Luther said. "Hurry it up!"

"Hey, it's hard untying things when your fingers feel like they're made of felt!" Carly retorted as she finally managed to get the first bag undone. "Okay! It's done!" She said as she put the bag on the platform.

"Roka quickly ties it up!"

"Okay! Over there, next!" Carly pointed out. "There's a bag that's hanging close to my level!"

Meanwhile, Edwina had directed her team towards the tribe's next bag. It was low to the ground, so the tribe didn't even need to lift Edwina up at all. The Survivor fan easily untied the knot holding the bag up and put the weight on the platform.

"Sa'zan has two bags now!"

"Okay! We're ahead!" Edwina said. "The next closest one is over that way!"

The Roka Tribe arrived at the lowest-hanging green bag and Carly was starting to untie it. However, Inferno suddenly caught a glimpse of the different heights of the bags and his eyes widened.

"Guys, wait! Leave that one!" Inferno instructed.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Carly asked.

"Save that one for last! This way!" Inferno replied as he pulled the team towards a bag that was hanging higher in the air.

The Sa'zan Tribe arrived at their next bag, which was a little higher up. Edwina tried reaching for it but wasn't up high enough.

"You need to push me up higher, guys!" Edwina said.

"We're trying!" Grace grunted.

With one final push, the Sa'zan Tribe managed to get Edwina close enough to the bag so she could start untying it. Edwina worked on the knot for a bit before managing to undo it.

"Come on! My arms are beginning to hurt!" Kayo said.

"I'm working on it!" Edwina replied as she undid the knot and placed the third bag on the platform.

"Sa'zan is up to three points!"

The Roka Tribe arrived at the bag Inferno pointed out and saw that it was pretty high up.

Mugg blinked and glared at Inferno. "That thing's high up, man. We'll need to push up even more." He stated.

"Better now than later when we've got an extra sixty pounds of weight to lift." Inferno replied.

The team looked at each other and realized Inferno had a point. They all pushed up on the platform and had to stretch their reach a little bit, but they managed to get Carly to the bag's height with relative ease.

"Okay! I've got this!" Carly said as she got to work and started untying the knot. She quickly undid it and dropped it onto the platform, which her team quickly brought back down again.

"Roka has their second point, but they're still behind!"

"Where's the next-highest bag?" Liz asked, looking around.

"Over here." Tokyo said as he led the team towards another bag.

The Sa'zan Tribe arrived at their next bag, and it was set at a reasonable height. The tribe tried pushing Edwina upwards, but found it to be hard as Edwina was slowly pushed upwards.

"Come on, guys! I need to go higher!" Edwina urged.

"The extra weight is pulling you down!" Kayo retorted. "Can someone tell me why we didn't for the high bags first?"

"We didn't think of it at the time!" Bianca replied. "Now push harder!"

It took a fair amount of effort, but the Sa'zan Tribe managed to get Edwina up to the bag. Edina started working on the knot.

"Hurry up, Edwina! My arms are giving out!" Bianca said.

In the meantime, the Roka Tribe arrived at their next bag. The platform was getting heavier, but the tribe managed to get Carly up close to the bag since it was lower.

"Okay. This shouldn't take too long." Carly said as she quickly untied the knot. "I got it!"

"Roka has three points! They've caught up!"

Just as SSBFreak made the announcement, Edwina managed to untie the knot for her team's fourth bag, which she loaded onto the platform.

"Actually, never mind. Sa'zan again takes the lead with four!"

"One more, guys!" Edwina urged.

"Go over there, guys!" Carly directed to the next bag.

The two teams raced over to their next bags, but Sa'zan reached theirs first. The team tried pushing Edwina up towards the bag, but the extra eighty pounds of weight were putting strain on their arms.

"Come on, guys! I can almost reach it!" Edwina urged.

The Roka Tribe arrived at their next bag, which was hanging relatively low. Even with sixty pounds of weight, the platform only needed to be raised a little, so there wasn't a lot of strain put on the tribe's arms as Carly reached the bag.

"Okay. Almost…Got it!" Carly said as she pulled the bag down and put it with the others.

"Roka ties it again! It's anyone's game!"

Edwina watched as the Roka Tribe rushed over to their last bag and reached futilely for hers. "Guys, I'm not there yet! I need a little more height!" She said.

Her tribe strained and tried to push up as high as they could, but their arms were already sore and the extra weight was making life difficult. They weren't budging.

The Roka Tribe arrived back at the lowest-hanging bag, the one Carly had access to without her tribe lifting her at all. Carly quickly got to work on the knot.

"This was a great idea." Carly said with a grin as she quickly undid the knot and placed the bag down. "Okay, let's go! Let's go!"

The Roka Tribe, now carrying all five of their bags, raced back to where they started and ran across the finish line, completing the challenge.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Roka wins Immunity!"

Edwina, who was still struggling to reach the last bag, slumped forward in disappointment.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on your second Immunity win in a row, Roka Tribe. You're all safe tonight and none of you will be voted out." SSBFreak said before turning to the losing tribe. "Sa'zan, I'll be seeing you at Tribal Council again tonight where you will vote off another member of your tribe. I'll give you the rest of the day to make your decision, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

The two tribes dispersed, Roka happier than ever at their second consecutive Immunity win. Sa'zan, on the other hand, looked tired, frustrated and upset.

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"Well, THAT sucked. Now what?" Renaldo asked as he, Edwina and Bianca sat around the shelter.

"They're likely going to target me because they may reason that I cost the team the win." Edwina pointed out. "Unless we can convince Kayo or Grace to turn on Yori, I'd say that it looks like a tiebreaker."

"_We lost Immunity and I have a feeling that I'm going to be a target tonight. Bianca, Renaldo and I make up half the tribe, and in order to avoid a tiebreaker, we need to get Grace or Kayo to change their vote." Edwina said. "If we can't get them to vote with us, we'll just need to make them vote for someone else and make it a 3-2-1 vote again Yori."_

"I could try and get Kayo to vote against Renaldo." Bianca suggested. "Renaldo can try and get Grace to vote against me."

"A 3-1-1-1 vote…It's not impossible." Edwina said. "It's probably our only chance."

Renaldo, looking at the ground, was silent. He finally looked up. "Well…Okay. I'll give it a shot."

"_I don't like this. I'm worried that this will blow up in our faces like it always does. We've already used our idol and that makes us targets." Renaldo said. "We need to come up with a way to stay in the game, and even though this may be our best chance, I don't see it working."_

Shortly afterwards, Renaldo was hiding in the bushes at the shore, waiting for Grace to walk by. However, when Grace finally walked by, Yori and Kayo were with her. Renaldo silently cursed his luck and stayed silent.

"Bianca came to me in an attempt to change my vote." Kayo explained. "To be frank, I don't trust her."

"Good call. The others are likely scrambling to stir up Tribal Council and blindside one of us." Yori explained.

"I haven't been approached by anyone, but I have a feeling that they're wanting to try." Grace folded her arms.

"_I admit that the strategy to get us to vote for different people is good, but they're trying it on the wrong person." Yori said with a smirk. "The only problem is that we don't know which of us they're targeting, but we'll make sure that all three of us are brushed up on fire-making skills to prepare for an imminent tiebreaker."_

"Just keep practicing making fire." Yori said. "That way, no matter who they target, we can still edge out in the tiebreaker."

"Sounds good to me, but we'd better hurry." Grace said. "We need to go to Tribal Council pretty soon."

The three then walked off towards the camp again, leaving a mortified Renaldo still hiding in the bushes. Gears started turning in his head before glancing down at a sharp rock. He picked it up and inspected it.

"_I knew it…They're onto us and they're going to vote against Edwina. We'll go into a tiebreaker and there's no way Edwina can win against any of them…" Renaldo said. "It's just…Edwina loves the game! I don't want her to go so early! She'll be heartbroken! But…But I know what I can do to keep her in the game…" Renaldo held up the rock he picked up, showing that it looked sharp enough to be a knife. "…I…I just hope she can forgive me for what I'm about to do…"_

**(Tribal Council)**

The six Sa'zan players walked into Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Finding their seats amongst the stumps, they all sat down and waited for council to commence.

"Welcome to Tribal Council, Sa'zan. I know none of you want to be here, but you lost Immunity. In a moment, you will vote one of your own off the island and out of the game." SSBFreak said as he decided to start asking questions. "Bianca, your friend and ally was voted out last time you were here. How did you react?"

"I was shocked and betrayed all at once." Bianca said, folding her arms. "Back when Det was voted out, Yori made me think that she was on my side, and then she goes and votes off Fleecy. It made me realize that Yori isn't what I originally thought."

"It's called playing the game, Bianca." Yori said.

"So you think lying and cheating your way to the end is playing the game?"

"It's not cheating. There aren't many ways I CAN cheat out here." Yori replied. "What I did was legal and part of the game."

"Kayo, how are tribe dynamics since I saw you last?" SSBFreak asked.

"Things seem to have gotten worse. Not only are Grace and I still on each other's case, but now Bianca's been raving mad ever since we got back two days ago." Kayo replied.

Renaldo visibly fidgeted in his seat, leaning slightly to one side.

"What do you expect? You guys voted out my best friend out here." Bianca glared at Kayo.

"Yori's idea. Don't blame me." Kayo waved Bianca off.

"You still went along with it."

"Edwina, you and Renaldo used the Immunity Idol last time, and yet didn't need it." SSBFreak said. "Why?"

"He and I thought we were being targeted for being weaker and costing our team the win." Edwina replied. "Unfortunately, I think using the idol when we didn't really need it just made the target on our backs even bigger."

"How so?"

"We showed that we had the idol that everyone was searching for the entire competition." Edwina replied with a shrug.

"Yori, how is the vote going tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"My alliance is targeting Edwina for costing us the win at the challenge. This time we really ARE targeting her." Yori explained as Edwina rolled her eyes. "I think she could have hurried up with her part of the challenge to help us win."

Renaldo gingerly placed a hand at the left side of his torso.

"Who is the other alliance targeting?"

"We don't know, but we're expecting a tiebreaker." Yori explained. "Luckily, all three of us have been practicing making fire."

"Grace, where do you sit on this decision?" SSBFreak asked.

"I don't agree with it myself, but I do what I can with what I'm given." Grace replied. "If I can get a secure deal to go further in the game, I'll go with it."

"So you're siding with Yori?"

"Like I said, I don't agree with her choice of targets." Grace shook her head.

"Renaldo, how do-" SSBFreak said before seeing Renaldo in an awkward position on his seat. "Renaldo, are you hurt?"

"Uh…" Renaldo fidgeted some more.

Bianca looked at Renaldo and saw a patch of red forming on his vest where his disembodied hand was. "Is…Is that blood?" She asked.

"Renaldo, what happened?" Edwina asked.

"Just before we came here, I-I tripped and landed on a sharp rock! I-I think it sliced my torso!" Renaldo said. "I-I didn't want anyone to worry!"

"Renaldo, this is serious!" Edwina said. "Why didn't you come to us?"

"Look, m-my injuries aren't bad, but they're bad enough! I need to get out of here to get it treated." Renaldo said. "So, please…Vote me out…I need to leave the game and get it looked at."

"Yori, were you expecting this?" SSBFreak asked.

"No…This is a surprise. I wasn't expecting this." Yori said before pondering. "But…This doesn't really change my plans. I'm still voting for Edwina."

Grace's eyes snapped open. "W-What? Yori, Renaldo's seriously injured!" She said. "He needs to get medical help!"

"His wound doesn't look bad. To be frank, he's stronger than Edwina so I think we should still keep him around." Yori said. "And I suggest you guys do the same."

"I…I can't believe you!" Grace screamed.

"Okay, that's enough. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Bianca, you're up."

Bianca nodded, got up and quickly left to go to the voting table. The Bianky wasted no time in writing a name down and putting it in the urn.

Yori approached the table and wrote a name down, showing it to the camera. "He may be injured, but that means he won't be a threat later." She explained, showing Edwina's name.

Kayo approached the table. He pondered his vote for a few seconds before writing a name down and putting it in the urn.

Grace furiously wrote a name down and turned it around, showing Renaldo's name. "I wish I could vote for Yori after what she said, but you're severely injured." She apologized.

Edwina sighed sadly as she wrote a name down. Taking one last look at it, she placed her ballot into the urn and left the table, looking at the ground.

Renaldo struggled to write and got some drops of blood on his ballot, but he showed the camera Yori's name. "I…I need to vote for someone. You were the target anyway." He said.

Once everyone had voted, SSBFreak left and returned quickly with the urn under his arm. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Renaldo." Renaldo took a deep breath before wincing in pain.

"Renaldo." Renaldo's breaths were shorter now, but he was breathing more often.

"…Edwina." Most of the tribe cast cold glances at Yori.

"Yori. The score is now 2-1-1." Yori folded her arms, ignoring the others.

"…Renaldo." Edwina looked at Renaldo sadly, but he gave her a reassuring nod. "Last vote and seventh person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Renaldo. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"Thanks, guys." Renaldo said as he grabbed his torch and brought it to SSBFreak.

"Renaldo, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Renaldo's torch. "It's time for you to go. We have a medical team ready to check your wound."

"Thank you. I'll see you guys eventually." Renaldo assured as he left Tribal Council, still holding his side.

Once Renaldo was gone, SSBFreak turned to the rest of the tribe. "Tonight's Tribal Council showed that anything can happen before the vote is cast. The vote can change entirely depending on an outside source out of anyone's control. Renaldo just experienced that firsthand." He explained. "There are five of you left and, come the next challenge, you will be going against Roka in a minority. Hopefully, you'll be able to avoid Tribal Council a third time to avoid losing anyone else. You can all head back to camp."

The five remaining Sa'zan players stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Edwina brought up the rear, shocked and silently crying over the unexpected loss of her friend and ally. Other than thoughts of her friend, nothing else went through Edwina's head during the walk back to camp. The same couldn't be said for Grace, who was walking in front of her. She was angry…VERY angry…

"_I…I did the best I could with what I was given. I have no regrets about that. In fact…I'm glad this happened because I was able to save Edwina from imminent elimination tonight." Renaldo said with a half-hearted chuckle. "I know it…May have been a little extreme…But…But hey. If I had to stab myself with a sharp, knife-like rock to keep Edwina in the game, so be it."_

**Voting History:**

**Renaldo – Bianca, Edwina, Grace and Kayo**

**Edwina – Yori**

**Yori – Renaldo**

Author's Notes: To be honest, I didn't have many plans for Renaldo when I started. In fact, I came up with most of his characteristics as I was writing. However, I wanted to make him a likable character despite being more filler than anything.

I know his self-given injury is a little extreme, but when you consider where he comes from, he's probably logically gotten much worse. He was originally going to get voted out normally, but the idea for the self-sacrifice came up as I was writing the previous episode.


	8. Days 17 to 19

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"_Renaldo got voted out, but not because he was targeted. He had severely injured himself and we were forced to vote him out to get him help." Bianca said. "Edwina hasn't said a whole lot since then, but I guess that's expected when you consider Renaldo's been her best friend out here. Grace, on the other hand…"_

"Yori, how could you be so thoughtless?" Grace roared at Yori. "You saw how much pain he was in! Why did you make the attempt to keep him?"

"Believe me, I know everything about wounds." Yori said, pointing at the mechanical side of her face with her robotic hand. "Renaldo's wound didn't look bad. He would have recovered quickly and he's still stronger than Edwina."

"His torso was slashed! How can you say that?" Grace demanded. "He needed medical attention and the only way he could get it is if he was taken from the game!"

"_Yori tried keeping Renaldo and voting out Edwina, even thought Renaldo was severely hurt. Thankfully, it didn't work." Grace said, arms folded. "However, it doesn't excuse the fact that Yori even tried it in the first place. That move tells me that Yori isn't what we originally thought and can't be trusted. I need to cut all ties with her as quickly as I can."_

"I'm just…Just furious that you even THOUGHT about keeping the injured guy back there!" Grace said. "That does it! I'm through with this! Find your own way through the game!"

"Grace, I don't recommend backing out of the deal we made." Yori said.

Grace paused, then looked over her shoulder. "Screw the deal, screw this alliance, and most importantly, Yori: SCREW. YOU." She said as she stalked off.

"_It's called strategy. Keeping Renaldo would have negated him as a threat altogether, no matter how serious his wounds were." Yori explained. "I thought Grace was used to that type of thinking judging by the people she knows where she comes from, but I guess not."_

Edwina sat at the shelter, alone. For the first time in the game, she looked genuinely sad. She sighed as she pulled her legs close and wrapped her arms around them.

Bianca came walking over. "You feeling okay?" She asked.

"No. My best friend out here got himself injured badly and I just want to know how serious it was." Edwina replied.

"I wouldn't worry about him, Edwina." Bianca assured. "Remember where Renaldo comes from. He should be used to severe pain. That's probably why he was able to hide it so well until SSBFreak pointed it out."

"I know, but…It's…It's complicated." Edwina said. "I don't even know myself."

"_Renaldo had to get his injury looked at, but…He probably doesn't know it, but he likely saved me back there." Edwina said. "I…I want to go all the way for him, now. I don't want Renaldo to have gotten injured like that in vain."_

Everyone went to bed soon afterwards, knowing that they would have a hectic day ahead of them, even if they didn't have a challenge.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 17)**

"What's on the agenda for today?" Luther asked as he walked over to Tokyo, who was fishing by the shore.

"I don't know. I think we've covered everything needed at camp." Tokyo shrugged. "There's not a whole lot to improve."

"That's what makes me feel a little uneasy."

"_Everything appears to be going a little too smoothly. There isn't really any noise coming from around camp, even when you consider we have Liz and Mugg on the same tribe and they don't like each other." Luther folded his arms. "I should be thankful things are going well for us after a rocky start, but things are just so quiet around here!"_

"So where is everyone else?" Luther asked.

"Liz and Carly went to find fruit, Mugg's getting some firewood and Inferno's off doing who-knows-what." Tokyo shook his head. "For the life of me, I can't figure out where he vanishes to when he disappears."

"Me neither. I tried following him one day." Luther replied.

"_Inferno's still a complete mystery. The only thing we know for sure is that he's a disco-fanatic and a snowboarder, but other than that, we're completely in the dark." Tokyo explained. "However, keeping to yourself in a game like this isn't good. If he isn't careful, Inferno will put himself in the crosshairs without realizing it."_

Meanwhile, Liz was collecting fruit alone. Carly had already gone back to camp with fruit, and Mugg was talking to Liz as they walked back to camp.

"So you're saying that there's an actual GANG called 'The Generic Guys'?" Liz asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. They're pretty laughable at fighting, but their leader, Conan, can pack a punch when he wants to." Mugg shrugged. "I hear he was one of the guys that helped Alex and Ryan take back the high school."

"What was so generic about him, then?"

"In all honesty, I don't know." Mugg shook his head. "Never seen the entire gang in one place before." Mugg was silent for a couple of seconds. "So what's going to be the story when we get back?" He asked.

"That I bumped into you on your way back and accidentally made you drop the firewood." Liz replied.

"Okay. I don't think we've done that yet."

"_Mugg and I are liking the fact that we can actually get along, but we can't let the rest of the tribe know that we do." Liz pointed out. "Therefore, walking around outside of camp is the only chance we really have to converse. We can't let the others suspect anything, though. I'm not even telling Inferno about this."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 17)**

Bianca looked around camp. Edwina still hadn't left the shelter and Grace was off by herself, seemingly avoiding Yori now that she had officially broken off from her alliance. Bianca started pondering possibilities before stepping forward.

"_If there's one good thing that came out of Renaldo getting voted out like that, it was that it severed the alliance between Yori and Grace." Bianca said. "Now that Grace is on her own, maybe I can pull her into an alliance with myself. We could team up with Edwina and have the majority again."_

"You want to join an alliance?" Grace asked as she and Bianca stood at the shelter, where Edwina was.

"Yes. The three of us together form the majority on the tribe." Bianca said. "And let's face it; We all need an alliance right now."

Edwina nodded. "I guess. Bianca and I lost alliance members and you just broke off your alliance with Yori." She replied.

"Don't remind me." Grace folded her arms. "Yori pulled me into her alliance when I first got here, but only if I worked with Kayo."

"_I'll admit that I was pulling a little bit of my strategy from the likes of Heather, but I'm not heartless. I know where to draw the line." Grace informed. "Yori crossed it and suggested something I wouldn't even consider. Heck, I'd assume HEATHER would have at least SOME issues with keeping a severely injured player."_

"So we'll join forces and take out Yori?" Edwina asked. "I think she's done enough."

"Yeah. Too bad we didn't figure this out any earlier." Bianca lamented.

"What's done is done. We'll worry about the future of the game after we take out Yori." Grace said.

"That's fine with me. I don't know if my heart's really up for some strategy for a bit." Edwina sighed.

"_I can't help it if I feel upset, but I know I need to press on and try to get over this. I know Renaldo's getting his injury looked at, so it's not like he's going to die." Edwina reasoned. "He'd probably want me to keep playing the way I've been playing, so that's what I'm going to do."_

"_Edwina is still feeling down about what happened to Renaldo, but maybe being in another alliance can help her get over it." Bianca said. "The last thing we want is for her to stumble in a challenge because she's too emotional. Grace and I are going to need to work on that with her."_

**(Roka Tribe)**

"No sign of the Immunity Idol yet?" Inferno asked as Carly came over.

"No. This isn't good. I need that thing and I need it badly." Carly shook her head.

"_After going to get fruit, I secretly went off to search around for the idol again while telling Luther and Tokyo that I was going for more fruit." Carly explained. "Since I'm the weakest one here, I'm definitely going to be targeted if we lose Immunity. At least the idol will give me some added assurance that I can go further into the game."_

"Well, I've been thinking about something." Inferno said.

"Yeah?"

"Carly, how many people are left in the game?"

Carly paused in thought. "Uh…Eleven?"

"Right. We're probably approaching the merge, and as soon as we do, you won't be needing the Immunity Idol." Inferno said. "If we can keep winning challenges until we get to the merge, the idol won't be needed because you're a threat."

"_Usually, the merge happens when the castaways are down to ten or eleven. I've going to be predicting that the merge is coming soon, and when it does, Carly can rest easy knowing that she won't be targeted." Inferno said. "However, that means that I would need the idol instead, but only if the others catch on that I'm stronger than I've been letting on."_

"So we just keep winning challenges?" Carly asked.

"If we can't find the idol, that's our only option. We won't have to win too many more since we're probably close to the merge by now." Inferno reasoned.

"I hope so. The entire pre-merge game has been hectic for me." Carly shook her head. "So what do we do now?"

"You should probably go get some more fruit so you can say that you weren't lying to the others." Inferno suggested. "I'll hang around another part of the shore and say I've been trying to fish there."

"Works for me." Carly said.

"_Trying to avoid suspicion is hard work. I barely managed to do it with that whole fake idol thing with Lucy. Keeping an alliance with Inferno secret is even harder." Carly said. "People are going to wonder what's going on, and they'll see that Inferno is disappearing a lot around camp. I just hope that the others don't catch on."_

"_Coming up to the merge will be both good and bad for us. It's good for Carly because she won't be targeted, but it's bad for me because I WILL." Inferno folded his arms. "We may be partly out of the woods at the merge, but we still need to focus on finding the idol before the others do."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"Yori, I wanted to talk." Kayo said as he approached Yori.

"I hope you're not going to do what Grace did last night." Yori warned.

"No. I'm willing to keep the alliance going, but I want to make a few adjustments." Kayo said with a smirk.

"_I don't approve of what Yori attempted, but it established her as someone no one here would vote for in the end." Kayo reasoned. "This makes her a perfect goat to take to the end, and anyone in the finals with her will automatically receive jury votes. If I can get Yori further into the game, more and more people will see that."_

"We're doing things my way from now on, okay?" Kayo said.

"Why would I agree to that?" Yori asked.

"Because you have the rest of the tribe mad at you for what you did at Tribal Council." Kayo said. "Face it. You're not going any further without my help."

Yori was silent, then folded her arms. "Fine. Have it your way for now." She said.

"_Kayo thinks he can control me because I was thinking strategically. Well, I'll let him think that for now, but he couldn't be further from the truth." Yori explained. "I still have some ideas in my head and I intend to use them, but I'll let Kayo think he's my only option just so I can lay low for a bit."_

"For starters, we'll need someone else to give us the majority." Kayo explained. "Grace may not have been big on your ideas, but maybe I can talk to her and convince her to vote Edwina should the time come."

"If you can convince her to vote with us, I'll vote however you want." Yori shrugged. "Judging by the lack of reason on this tribe, I don't really care anymore."

"That's what I wanted to hear." Kayo said with a smirk.

"_Okay. It will be hard getting someone to vote for someone other than Yori if we lose Immunity, but it's not impossible." Kayo reasoned. "If I can relay my ideas of bringing a goat like Yori to the finals, she may have a second thought about her opinions and vote with me anyway. Like I said, it'll be hard, but it can be done."_

The day went by normally for the two tribes. When night rolled in, the tribes went to bed, knowing a challenge was awaiting them the following day.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 18)**

"_Tokyo came to me today and mentioned that he didn't trust Inferno. He says that Inferno may be smarter and more game-savvy than he appears." Luther explained. "I'm not sure if I would put it that way, but I think there's still something he isn't telling us. I think it may be worthwhile to investigate a little further."_

"Why do you think he's smarter than he seems?" Luther asked.

"He seems too laid back, he vanishes constantly and he came to me not that long ago with a pitch to keep Carly." Tokyo replied. "That tells me that he knows more about how to play the game than we thought he did."

"So what do we do?" Luther asked. "If you ask me, it sounds like it's just an assumption."

"That's all it is at the moment, but if it turns out to be true, we could be dealing with someone who has the potential to turn the game around on us."

"_Inferno is suspicious, but I want to make sure my thoughts are justifiable before I start jumping to conclusions." Tokyo said. "That being said, it would be stupid to get rid of Inferno now, but when the merge hits, I may have to start gunning for him."_

"Just keep it in the back of your mind that Inferno may not be what he seems." Tokyo warned.

"Always good to be aware of things." Luther shrugged. "If you're right, we've got a head start on him."

"We've got treemail, everyone." Carly said as she came over.

"That didn't take long." Mugg noted.

"What does it say, Carly?" Tokyo asked.

"It's wondering what we know about the other two tribes." Carly said.

"Okay. Sounds like a trivia challenge." Luther scratched his head. "Great. I'm not that good at those."

"We'll see what the challenge is like before we decide who'll be sitting out." Liz said. "I guess we should get going."

"_Going into a trivia challenge could be good for us since we haven't really had one of those yet. It'll give people like Carly and I a chance to show what we know." Liz said with a smirk. "That being said, we don't know how well the other team can do with trivia, especially since they have the Survivor superfan on their team."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 18)**

"Grace, I want to talk to you." Kayo said as he approached Grace.

"I'm not in the mood for it right now, Kayo." Grace rolled her eyes.

"Just hear me out…"

"_Yori is the perfect goat to take to the end, but I need to get Grace to realize that. I need her vote if we go to Tribal Council again, and keeping Yori is the best move strategically." Kayo pointed out. "She may still be angry, but Grace needs to at least think about what makes for the best endgame scenario."_

"You actually want me to KEEP Yori?" Grace asked. "What have you been smoking?"

"Grace, I know you're mad, but think of it this way." Kayo said. "Everyone on the tribe, even me, dislikes Yori. If she made the finals, exactly how many votes would she get?"

"Roughly zero." Grace rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

"Exactly. Wouldn't that make her the best person to take to the end?" Kayo quizzed.

Grace stayed silent, but folded her arms and growled.

"Right again. I know you're mad, but keeping her is the best option for later in the game."

"_Did I mention how much I hate it when Kayo has a point? Because I do. Yori is indeed the perfect goat to take to the end, but most people will just be unwilling to even let her get that far." Grace explained. "No, he doesn't have my vote right away, but I'll still think over the possibilities for later."_

"Looks like we have some treemail." Edwina said as she approached.

"Okay. Time for the next challenge." Kayo nodded. "What's it say?"

"It says 'How much do you know about the other tribes'?" Edwina read.

"That's a no-brainer. A trivia challenge." Bianca said. "You think we can beat the others?"

"Sure, we can." Edwina said, finally smiling again.

"_Okay. A trivia challenge is good. Depending on what the topics are, this may be my thing." Edwina said. "I just hope we can beat the other team here, because if it's Immunity, we're already behind them."_

"_A trivia challenge is a bit of a relief for us since the Roka Tribe has all the strong players. This could give us a bit of a reprieve if we need it." Bianca explained. "That being said, we may have a good shot depending on the topics. We just need to hope that the questions aren't specific and don't require exact numbers."_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The six Roka players stood on their mat again, in the middle of a clearing, waiting for Sa'zan to show up.

"Before we start, let's bring out the Sa'zan Tribe." SSBFreak said as the five remaining Sa'zan players walked into view. Once again, it didn't take long to notice who was missing. "Renaldo was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

The Roka players looked indifferent, seeing as how Renaldo wasn't that strong of a player. Sa'zan stepped onto their mat as the two teams waited to begin.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, everyone. Here, we will see how well you all know your fellow castaways. Here's how the challenge will work. Five people will be on each team and I will alternate asking questions about the castaways on the other team, both eliminated and still in the game." SSBFreak explained. "If your team answers a question right, you will get to eliminate someone on the opposing team. However, if you get the answer wrong, then you will lose someone on your own team. The winning team is the one with anyone left standing. Also to keep things fair, if a Malabar player is the answer to a question, it will still be one on the opposite team as you currently. The reward today is a feast, which will be brought to your camp and can be had for dinner, which I'm sure everyone here is wanting."

Everyone, knowing what was at stake, knew that they had to try hard to win this particular challenge.

"Roka, you have one extra player. Who's sitting out?" SSBFreak said.

The team looked at each other for a moment before Luther raised his hand. "I will."

"Okay. With that, we can now start."

**(Later…)**

The two teams stood on their mats, Liz and Grace holding some tablets. Luther stood off to the side, as he wasn't participating.

"Okay, for Reward, here's Roka's first question." SSBFreak said. "Who on Sa'zan is from another galaxy?"

The tribe looked at each other for a few seconds, wondering what the answer was.

"You think it may be Yori?" Tokyo asked. "We know it can't be Grace and Kayo."

"Yori's still a human." Carly said. "It's either Bianca, Fleecy or Renaldo."

"Try Renaldo." Mugg said. "I think Fleecy looks like some kind of animal."

"Maybe." Liz said as she wrote a name down and showed it to the host, revealing Renaldo's name.

"That is incorrect. Fleecy is from another galaxy; The planet Rayon, to be precise." SSBFreak said.

"I thought it was Renaldo." Mugg scratched his head.

"He's from Nevada!" Edwina shot back.

"Roka, since your answer was wrong, you have to eliminate someone on your team." The host said.

"I'm out." Mugg said as he left the Roka team to go stand with Luther.

"Okay. Onto Sa'zan's first question." SSBFreak said. "Who on Roka has previous experience with a firearm?"

"That should be dead easy." Bianca said. "It can only be Wilson."

"The older guy that was voted out third?" Grace asked as she wrote a name down.

"That's the one."

Grace showed SSBFreak Wilson's name. "Wilson is correct, seeing as how he's a soldier." SSBFreak said. "Sa'zan, you got your answer right, so you can eliminate someone on Roka."

"We're taking out Inferno." Grace said.

"That didn't go as well as I hoped." Inferno said as he left his team.

"Onto Roka's next question." SSBFreak said. "Who on Sa'zan has killed the most people?"

Carly looked over everyone on the other team. "It has to be Yori. She's a cyborg from the future." She said.

"Doesn't mean she's killed people." Tokyo shook his head. "What about Renaldo? His entire franchise is about killing everything that moves."

"And a few things that don't." Liz nodded as she wrote a name down. "Sounds about right."

Liz showed Renaldo's name on her tablet. "Renaldo is indeed correct, as unlikely as it may seem." SSBFreak said.

"How did Renaldo kill more people than you?" Grace asked Yori.

"I didn't become a field agent until I became a cyborg." Yori shook her head.

"Roka, who are you eliminating." SSBFreak asked.

"We're eliminating Kayo." Liz replied as Kayo left the field.

"Okay. Here's Sa'zan's next question." The host said. "Who on Roka is friends with a complete lunatic?"

"It's Carly. It has to be." Bianca said.

"You sure?" Grace asked.

"The Muppet Show has that Crazy Harry guy." Edwina added. "I don't think you can get crazier than that."

"We'll try it." Grace nodded.

Grace showed Carly's name. "That is incorrect. The correct answer is actually Inferno." SSBFreak said.

"I thought you were friends with Crazy Harry." Liz said.

"I said I KNEW Crazy Harry." Carly replied.

Meanwhile, Mugg was looking at Inferno. "Do we even wanna know?" He asked.

"Uh…Probably not." Inferno replied.

"Sa'zan, you need to eliminate one of your own." SSBFreak said.

"I guess Yori." Grace replied. Yori sighed and left the field.

"Okay. Here's Roka's next question." SSBFreak said. "Who on Sa'zan works as a janitor?"

This took the remaining Roka players by surprise, but they talked to each other about it.

"What do you guys think?" Tokyo asked. "I'm leaning towards Kayo."

"It can't be any of the girls and Renaldo we know is a hunter." Carly added. "I see no other option."

"We'll go with that, then." Liz said as she wrote a name down.

Liz showed SSBFreak Kayo's name. "That is incorrect. The correct answer was Det." The host said.

"Who?" Carly asked, scratching her head.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised." Bianca rolled her eyes.

"Roka, you need to eliminate someone."

"I'll split. You girls okay on your own?" Tokyo asked.

"We can do this." Liz said with a smirk as Tokyo left the field.

"Here's Sa'zan's next question." SSBFreak said. "Who on Roka is in a band?"

"That's easy." Grace said with a smirk.

"Is it?" Bianca asked.

"I'm friends with her." Grace said as she showed Liz's name on her ballot.

"That's the correct answer." SSBFreak said. "Who are you eliminating?"

"Carly." Grace replied as Carly left the field.

"Here's where we stand. Liz is the only one left for Roka while Sa'zan still has three people playing. Liz needs to get this question right or her tribe automatically loses." SSBFreak said. "Who on Sa'zan is heavily into creativity?"

Liz breathed a sigh of relief and wrote a name down. "I'm glad this question was just as easy as theirs." She said as she revealed Edwina's name on the ballot.

"That's correct. Who's getting eliminated, Liz?"

"Edwina."

"So much for that." Edwina said as she left the field.

"Here's the next question for Sa'zan." SSBFreak said. "Who on Roka lives in a village as opposed to a city or town?"

"What do you think?" Grace asked. "The eliminates Carly, Liz, Mugg, Inferno and Wilson."

"That leaves Luther, Tokyo, Lucy and the girl that was voted out first." Bianca said.

"I'm thinking Tokyo." Grace said. "He seems to be the one from furthest in the past."

"Makes sense." Bianca nodded. "Want to try it?"

"It's either him or Luther and I'm still leaning towards Tokyo." Grace replied and wrote a name down.

Grace showed Tokyo's name to the host. "That is the correct answer!" SSBFreak said. "That's it! The challenge is over! Sa'zan wins Reward!"

Grace and Bianca cheered and high-fived as Liz folded her arms and looked frustrated.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Sa'zan. Your meal will be waiting for you when you get back to camp. Hopefully, it will prepare you for the Immunity Challenge tomorrow." SSBFreak said before looking at the losing tribe. "Roka, I have nothing to give you, except for the hope that you can do better on the Immunity Challenge. For now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"Yes! We won Reward!" Edwina cheered as the tribe sat down at a laid-out picnic blanket to have their meal.

"That was closer that I would have liked." Grace shook her head. "We only had two people up when we won."

"_We won Reward, which is good because it was a big meal for the five of us, but the fact remains that it was close." Grace pointed out. "That tells me that we're going to need to try harder to make sure we win the following challenges, because the other team is apparently just as good at things as we are."_

"The fact remains that we won." Edwina shrugged as she grabbed a sandwich. "That's the main thing, isn't it?"

"I guess so." Grace shrugged.

"This will also prepare us for the Immunity Challenge tomorrow since we know it's coming." Kayo explained. "At least we'll be energized for it."

"What do you think the challenge will be?" Edwina asked.

"I don't know, but we can rule another trivia challenge out of it." Kayo replied. "They never have two trivia challenges on the same episode."

"You never know."

"_Kayo seems to forget that I'm the Survivor superfan. I seem to recall a couple of times where there have been two trivia challenges in an episode. I just can't remember them off the top of my head." Edwina said. "We shouldn't rule out anything, because something can come up when we least expect it."_

"_We got a bit of a morale boost from winning Reward, which is good since we've lost the two previous Immunity Challenges." Kayo explained. "Hopefully, we can keep up the momentum and win the challenge tomorrow, because it'll at least keep us alive for the next few days."_

After the meal was done, everyone was feeling nourished and satisfied. By now, the day was coming close to its end.

"We may as well prepare ourselves for the challenge." Edwina said. "I know the other team's going to be psyching themselves up for it so they don't lose."

"Yeah. Especially since they lost today's challenge."

**(Roka Tribe)**

"Well, that sucked." Inferno said as everyone returned to camp.

"Yeah. I was hoping that would go better than it did." Carly added. "I was thinking we'd dominate a trivia challenge."

"It got down to the wire, though." Liz piped up. "They only had two people left."

"_We lost the challenge, but hey, it was close. That should add up to SOMETHING. At least it doesn't mean that they dominate us completely in trivia." Liz said. "However, since we lost the challenge, we're going to need to kick it into high gear tomorrow for Immunity, because that's where it really counts."_

"So what do we do to prepare for tomorrow?" Carly asked.

"I suggest that you keep it in the back of your head to be ready for anything and remember that the challenge can't take you by surprise." Tokyo explained.

"Good idea. I don't know how we're going to prepare for something otherwise if we don't know it's coming." Luther nodded.

"_We need to prepare ourselves for the challenge tomorrow, even if we don't know what it'll be." Tokyo said. "It could be hard to do something like that, but we just need to remember to prepare for anything. That's usually how you prepare for things in Survivor to begin with."_

The tribe dispersed, going in different directions, leaving Liz and Mugg alone. Liz scratched her head. "I dunno what the challenge will be tomorrow, but we gotta make sure we win it." She said.

"I know. I just hope we aren't caught off guard." Mugg nodded.

The two stood in silence for a few seconds. "…You still find it weird how we've been getting along after we spent the majority of the game against each other?" Liz asked.

"I blame Grace and Kayo." Mugg shrugged.

"Me too."

"_I know Kayo didn't want me associating with the girls because they were enemies in his mind, but I think that it technically only applied to Grace." Mugg pointed out. "Hey, I need someone to talk to when Kayo isn't here and I actually get along with Liz, so I figure it's okay."_

Night eventually came in. The two teams, knowing that an Immunity Challenge was tomorrow, decided to go to sleep to ready themselves for it.

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 19)**

"_We're going to have Immunity today, and we're feeling good after winning Reward yesterday. We just need to hope that we can win again today." Edwina said. "I kind of worried about what type of challenge we'll have, because if it's something I can't do well in, the others will target me if we lose."_

"So what's the strategy?" Edwina asked Bianca. "I'm open to whatever, but we have to be on the same page."

"I know. If we win, it's all good, but if we lose, we need to target Yori." Bianca replied. "We've got the majority since Grace is with us, so we shouldn't have much of a problem."

"You don't think Kayo will vote for us?"

"It's possible, but I doubt it."

"_Comparing Grace and Kayo, we think Kayo seems more the type to focus on the game rather than the good of the tribe." Bianca explained. "Because of this, he may decide to keep Yori and vote one of us out. But like I said, it only seems that way for now, so we'll have to watch his moves carefully to know for sure."_

Meanwhile, Yori walked up to the treemail box alone. She looked deep in thought about what she should do next.

"How am I going to do this?" Yori asked herself. "Grace hates me now and my only ally is Kayo…"

"_I wasn't expecting Grace to take my opinions as hard as she did. I was fully expecting her to still be on my side after the vote." Yori explained. "This will complicate things for me. I need to find a way to get further into the game, or at least make it to the merge so I can start fresh with the other tribe."_

Yori arrived at the treemail box and pulled out a letter. "Time for the Immunity Challenge."

Yori returned to the camp and summoned everyone else over.

"What's the letter say?" Kayo asked.

"It's making a bad pun about keys, so I'm guessing we're going to be solving a puzzle." Yori replied.

"That works for me." Edwina shrugged.

"_So we got another challenge that doesn't appear to involve strength. That caught me off guard a little, but I'm honestly okay with it." Kayo said. "The other team has multiple strong players. More than our team, anyway. Any chance we have to even the playing field against them, we'll take it."_

**(Roka Tribe; Day 19)**

"_Immunity is today, and our tribe is really wanting to win and avoid Tribal Council. Carly and I are especially hoping for a win." Inferno explained. "If we lose, chances are Carly's going to get targeted, and I want to avoid that. If we win Immunity, we'll get a reprieve and avoid Tribal Council altogether."_

"What kind of challenge do you think we'll have?" Carly asked.

"No idea. Which is why we need to prepare for anything." Inferno said. "We can't let the type of challenge take us by surprise."

"I know. The other team's probably going to pull out all the stops as well." Carly nodded.

"They have to be. They've gone to Tribal Council twice in a row." Inferno replied. "They won't want to make it three."

"_Inferno and I are in a tough spot. I can't find the idol and he hasn't had any luck trying to get the others not to vote for me if we lose." Carly said. "We're basically riding on us winning the challenge in order to stay afloat, so we're going to need to make sure we give it our all out there."_

Meanwhile, Luther and Tokyo were walking to the treemail box to see if they had anything yet. The two seemed more intent on conversing than checking for treemail.

"So what do you think we should do?" Luther asked. "We need to know who's going to get voted out if we lose."

"I think we should focus on Carly first if we lose." Tokyo said. "After she goes, Liz should be targeted next, and then Inferno."

"Because you don't trust him?"

"Well, I'm not worried about Mugg, if that's what you're asking."

"_We need to be prepared if we lose the challenge. At this point, focusing on the weaker players first should be the number one priority." Tokyo explained. "If there's someone on your tribe you don't trust, you should check to see if they're a liability to the tribe. Inferno may be sneaky, but he's also strong."_

Luther and Tokyo pulled the treemail letter from the box and took it back to the tribe, where they opened it up and read it.

"It says "We hope you get the 'key' to winning this challenge'." Luther read.

"Man. That was so corny, it was almost funny." Liz lifted an eyebrow.

"Okay. So it doesn't seem to involve strength." Luther said.

"You never know. The way the letter's worded, it could mean anything." Tokyo supplied.

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two teams walked out of the jungle and into a clearing. Seeing their mats on the ground, everyone went over and stood on them to wait for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be testing your searching skills, as well as how fast some of you are." SSBFreak said. The teams saw a pair of bamboo cages sitting in front of a large pile of keys. "One of your members will be locked inside one of those cages, and the goal is to get them out by finding the four keys that are your tribe's colour buried somewhere in this huge pile of keys. All four keys are needed to unlock the cages, as they each have four different locks. Once all four locks have been undone, the cage will open and the trapped person must simply run across this finish line down at the beach, which is approximately fifty yards away. The first team to have their trapped player cross the finish line will win Immunity and be safe from tonight's Tribal Council."

The two teams looked at each other, knowing that it was basically another luck-based challenge.

"Roka, you guys still have one extra person." SSBFreak said. "Who are you sitting out?"

"Carly." Luther said.

"Okay. If everyone will choose who will be locked inside the cages, we can start."

**(Later…)**

Liz and Bianca were standing inside the two cages and all four locks were done up for each cage. Carly stood off to the side and everyone else was in front of the cages, staring at the pile of keys.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The eight players rushed off from their starting point and ran towards the pile of black keys to start their search.

"Spread out! We'll cover more ground that way!" Tokyo instructed as he ran around to the other side of the key pile.

Everyone started digging through the pile and quickly found that finding four keys of their tribe's colour would be harder than it seemed since the keys were small and there were a lot of them.

"How do they expect us to find one of our keys in this mess?" Grace asked.

"They have to be in here somewhere. Keep searching." Edwina said.

"Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack." Mugg muttered as he shoveled through the pile of keys to find a green one.

"Don't overlook anything." Inferno instructed. "Make sure that you don't accidentally toss one of our keys aside."

The two teams continued to search through the pile. This continued for a bit and no one came up with a key.

"Guys, hurry! We need this win!" Bianca called out from inside the cage.

"You guys have to be getting close to finding one!" Liz piped up.

"There are a LOT of keys here, Liz." Tokyo shook his head as he continued to search.

The eight players continued to search. Luther finally stumbled upon a key, but he saw that it was silver, so he quietly put it back in the pile so no one on Sa'zan would notice. He looked around a bit and saw that no one on Sa'zan was paying attention, so he was in the clear.

A few more minutes passed and no one had managed to find a key. Needless to say, people were getting a little frustrated at how long it was taking them to get anywhere.

"The challenge has been going on for about ten minutes now and no keys have been found." SSBFreak said before looking at Liz and Bianca. "You girls may want to make yourselves comfortable, since this may take a while."

"Way to be supportive." Liz muttered.

"Hey. I can't be biased." SSBFreak shrugged.

Shortly after this, Tokyo managed to stumble upon one of the green keys. He pulled it from the pile and raced back to the cage holding Liz and tried unlocking one of the locks.

"Tokyo found the first key for Roka. Now he just needs to find the lock it opens." SSBFreak said.

It didn't take long for Tokyo to find the correct lock, as it was the second one he tried. The ninja unlocked the first lock and pulled it off the cage door.

"Roka is leading 1-0!"

"I guess I can't go back to search for another key?" Tokyo asked.

"No. You're done." SSBFreak said.

"Come on, guys! We can still win! You've probably gone through half the pile by now!" Bianca called out.

"We're already ahead! We just need three more keys!" Liz jumped in.

"It's gonna be even harder since our keys are the colour of grass!" Mugg retorted as he continued to search.

Before too long, another key was found, but this one was for Sa'zan. Edwina jumped from the pile of keys with a silver key in her hand.

"I got one! I got one!" Edwina said as she raced to the cage holding in Bianca and was lucky enough to unlock the first lock she chose.

"Sa'zan scores a point and we're tied at 1 each!"

No sooner after the host made the announcement when Yori pulled away from the pile of keys, also with a silver key. The cyborg woman raced over to the cage just as Edwina pulled the first opened lock off it.

"Let's try this one." Yori said as she tried unlocking one of the three remaining locks on the cage, only for it not to work. Yori tried again with a different lock and got luckier, as the lock came undone.

"Sa'zan now leads 2-1!"

"We're falling behind now, guys!" Liz said. "You have to be getting close to finding a key!"

"How are we not finding anything?" Luther asked. "It feels we've gone through the entire pile."

"The keys are likely at the bottom of the pile. They want this challenge to go on for as long as possible." Inferno replied.

The remaining players continued to search for keys. The pile of unchecked keys was getting smaller and smaller, but even still, no new keys were found.

"We only need two more." Grace muttered as she dug through the pile.

"Keep searching." Kayo instructed.

"I'm AWARE that's what I have to do." Grace retorted. "There's nothing else we can do at the moment."

"Then stop talking and keep searching."

"I WOULD if you would leave me alone!"

As Grace and Kayo continued to argue, Liz and Mugg listened and suddenly realized that they didn't really miss the arguments at camp. Trying his best to ignore the argument, Mugg continued to search.

Suddenly, another key was found. Inferno held up a green key and smirked as he got up and ran over to the cage holding Liz.

"Inferno now has his tribe's second key. He just needs to find the right lock."

It didn't take long for Inferno to find the right lock. He got it wrong on the first guess, but the second try was better and proved to be the right lock. Inferno undid the lock and took it off the cage.

"Roka ties the game again! We're at 2 each now!"

"Keep it up! We've got this! Two more keys!" Liz called out.

"Keep searching, you two!" Bianca ordered. "Stop arguing!"

"You're the one that started this!" Grace told Kayo.

"You're the one that made the comment of only needed two keys!" Kayo retorted.

"I was making a statement, you dipwad!" Grace replied. "I wasn't expecting, nor wanting, you to answer!"

Luther and Mugg wisely decided to ignore the noise an continued to search on their own.

Needless to say, searching on the Sa'zan side had all but stopped. Grace and Kayo, while still searching through the keys, were focusing so much time of arguing that they weren't searching as much. Luther and Mugg, on the other hand, pressed on.

"The challenge has been going on for about twenty minutes now." SSBFreak said. "Both teams only have two keys left to find, so it's still anyone's game."

"How are you guys holding up?" Liz asked.

"We have to be getting there." Luther said.

"You guys okay now?" Bianca asked.

By now, Grace and Kayo had stopped arguing, but weren't talking to each other. In fact, neither one made the effort to respond to Bianca's question.

"Fine. Don't answer me."

"Hey! I found a key!" Mugg said as he pulled a green key from the now-small pile of unchecked keys.

"Great! Bring it here!" Liz said.

Mugg ran over to Liz's cage and stuck the key into one of the locks. Mugg lucked out, as it was the right lock, which came open with a turn of the key. Mugg removed it from the cage door.

"Roka scores again! They lead 3-2!"

"One more, Luther! One more!" Liz said.

Luther stepped up his search and raked through the remaining keys, making sure he didn't overlook anything. He knew that there was only one more green key, and his tribe needed it to win. Thankfully, Grace and Kayo still seemed more intent on avoiding each other than searching, so that gave him a little extra time.

Suddenly, Luther found the last green key in the pile. He scooped it up and ran over to the cage. The executioner stuck the key into the last lock and opened it, pulling open the door and releasing Liz at the same time.

Seeing as how Grace and Kayo were still far behind, Liz didn't even hurry with running to the finish line and simply jogged. The Roka Tribe cheered as Liz crossed the finish line at the beach.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak said. "Roka wins Immunity!"

Still trapped inside her cage, Bianca leaned against the bars. "I hope there are some spare keys to get me out of here." She said.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on your third Immunity win in a row, Roka. You are once again all safe from elimination tonight and will be around for at least a couple more days." SSBFreak said before looking at the losing tribe. "Sa'zan, I will once again be seeing you at Tribal Council tonight, where you will again vote off one of your own. I leave you to ponder possibilities for the rest of the day, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"We lost AGAIN." Bianca moaned. "We were doing so well at first! How come we suck so much now?"

"The other tribe must be really determined." Edwina sighed. "I was hoping we could at least win one more Immunity."

"_Losing Immunity is never a good feeling, but we lost it three times in a freaking ROW. You can imagine that it hasn't been doing our morale any good." Bianca muttered. "Now we have to vote someone off again, but thankfully, we have a good idea as to who will be going. We now have the majority."_

"_I don't like losing challenges, but I guess it's all part of the experience. I just wish we could win more often." Edwina shrugged. "That's just one of the setbacks of being physically weak like me, because you need to rely on your mental strength to get you through the day."_

Meanwhile, Kayo and Grace were talking, or talking as best as they could.

"Look, all negativity aside, have you put any more thought into my idea?" Kayo said.

Grace sighed. "Yes. Yes, you have. Yori would indeed be the ideal person to take to the end." She replied. "She did this to herself, and now I know that she's not likely to get many votes if she made it to the end."

"So you'll keep her?"

"Yes. I'll vote off a smaller tribe liability."

"Good. Remember that Edwina's the weakest, so we'll vote for her."

"_I'm glad that I got Grace to see things my way. Now that I'm in charge of Yori's alliance, I can operate thing smoother than she could." Kayo said. "Edwina's the weakest here, and I'm thinking that we aren't going to win any more challenges if she sticks around. At least then we'll have nothing but relatively-strong players on the tribe."_

After Grace left to go over to Bianca and Edwina, Kayo walked over to Yori. "She's on board." He said.

"I hope you're right." Yori said, her good eye narrowed. "If I get voted out tonight, then you're next."

"I know. That' why I made sure I got Grace thinking of how to vote." Kayo replied. "She won't be voting for you. She sees you as a goat."

"_Having the hatred of my tribe focused on me is only a minor setback. Like I said, if I can make the merge, I can get in with the other tribe." Yori assured. "I'm banking on Kayo to come through and make sure I stay tonight, because it's literally make-or-break time when it comes to Tribal Council."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The five remaining Sa'zan players walked into Tribal Council with lit torches. Finding their seats in the dwindling number of stumps, everyone sat down and waited for Tribal Council to start.

"Welcome to your third Tribal Council in a row, Sa'zan. In a moment, you will be voting one of your own out of the game, but you probably know that by now." SSBFreak said as he decided to start asking questions. "Bianca, this is the third Tribal Council in a row for you guys. Why do you think this is?"

"It's a hard call. While I think some of it may revolve around us and our lack of real teamwork, I think the Roka Tribe has kicked things into high gear since they eliminated Lucy." Bianca replied. "Whether or not she was the main factor in holding them back I don't know for sure. I just know that she's likely a factor."

"Could it be something as simple as that?"

"This is Survivor. Teams can function a lot better if they eliminate the one person holding them back."

"Edwina, last time you were here, Renaldo was voted out because of an injury." SSBFreak reminded. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm still a little upset that Renaldo had to leave the way he did." Edwina replied. "I'm just glad he left before his wound got too bad. Oh, that reminds me. How is he?"

"The wound is healing fast. He should be back to normal in just over a week."

"That makes me feel a lot better. At least I know now that he's okay." Edwina sighed in relief. "I'm just trying to keep playing so that Renaldo didn't get eliminated in vain, because I know I was probably the target before him."

"Yori, at Tribal Council, you still voted for Edwina instead of Renaldo." SSBFreak noted. "Would you mind telling us all why?"

"Renaldo comes from a place where people get killed or severely injured on a daily basis. Compared to some of the stuff he's likely received in the past, that wound was likely no big deal." Yori replied. "I thought he would still be able to play, and he was still stronger than Edwina, so that's why I tried to keep him."

"Grace, you were very vocal about disagreeing with Yori." SSBFreak said. "Care to add your two cents?"

"It seemed far too cruel to keep Renaldo around simply because he was stronger by comparison. The fact remained that he needed to get his injury looked at." Grace replied. "Letting him stay in the game would have prevented him from getting the help he needed, so that's why I didn't want any part in Yori's plan to keep him."

"Kayo, now that the dust has settled from the last Tribal Council, how do you think this one will go?" SSBFreak asked.

"The vote will either go towards Edwina or Yori depending on who votes for who." Kayo replied. "People can either vote emotionally or strategically, but I can't say which way the vote will go for sure. The only thing that is certain is the end vote."

"I think that's enough questions this time. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Yori, you're up."

The cyborg left the hut and went over to the voting table. Yori wrote a name down and revealed Edwina's name. "I'm hoping the vote goes my way." She said.

Bianca approached the table. She wrote a name down, placed it in the urn and left to return to the hut.

Grace wrote a name down and placed it into the jar. "I've made my decision and I'm voting strategically." She said as she left the table.

Edwina walked up to the table and scribbled a name down. Satisfied, but looking unsure, Edwina placed the vote into the jar.

Kayo quickly wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "You're the weakest left. You survived last time, but it only delayed the inevitable." He said, having voted for Edwina.

Once all five players voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Edwina." Edwina bit her lip.

"Edwina." The tribe waited in anticipation.

"…Kayo." Kayo's eyes widened in surprise.

"Kayo. The score is tied between Edwina and Kayo." Kayo looked at Grace, whom smirked and waved. "Last vote and eighth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Kayo. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Kayo sighed in annoyance, but remained silent as he grabbed his torch and approached the host.

"Kayo, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Kayo's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"I can't believe that just happened." Kayo said as he left Tribal Council, shaking his head.

Once Kayo was gone, SSBFreak turned to the rest of the tribe. "And so ends another Tribal Council. Kayo obviously didn't see that coming, so you were probably planning this blindside in secret." He explained. "This was the third time in a row I've seen you guys, so hopefully, you can avoid a fourth. The game is half-over by now, so you can bet that all of the contestants will be wanting to win at this point. You can all head back to camp."

The four remaining Sa'zan players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Grace brought up the rear, looking satisfied. Kayo spent the past couple of days trying to get her to keep Yori, but he wasn't counting on Grace to turn her vote and those of her alliance against him instead. Grace almost wondered how Kayo didn't see it coming…

"_Well, I suppose I let myself get too cocky. I guess I forgot that Grace is just as sneaky as I am. For that, it's my own fault that I let this happen." Kayo rolled his eyes. "Well, you can't win them all, but I was hoping to do better than I did. I had a lot of ideas going for what to do once we made the merge…"_

**Voting History:**

**Kayo – Bianca, Edwina and Grace**

**Edwina – Kayo and Yori**

Author's Note: I knew Kayo seemed a little dull in the early days, but that was because I wanted the arguments with Grace to start gradually. In the end, I think Kayo was basically a more-villainous version of Grace.

That didn't really affect his placement, though. He was always a pre-merge boot and I always wanted Grace to have the last laugh in the end.


	9. Days 20 to 22

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

"_Kayo just got voted out in a blindside from the other three girls. While this leaves me without an ally, they decided to keep me." Yori explained. "Now I have a bit better chance to rethink my plans, but I know I've got no chance with this tribe."_

Yori walked towards the shelter alone as the other three girls talked. "I can still take the three of them out, but I'm going to need a little extra help to do it." She mused. "I just hope the merge is soon."

As Yori went to bed, the other three girls talked about the vote.

"Can you tell us why you wanted to vote off Kayo again, besides the fact that you hated each other?" Bianca asked.

"Simple. Yori is a non-threat now that we know her motives. It would pay to try and take her further into the game." Grace replied. "If she made the finals, how many people would vote for her?"

"None." Edwina sighed.

"_I was against voting off Kayo until Grace told me her reasons. He WAS a fairly-big threat and pretty sneaky." Edwina noted. "Letting him into the merge could be dangerous, while we're not afraid of anything Yori can do at this point. She's already dug herself too deep to be pulled from."_

"But there's one thing that's still on my mind." Bianca said.

"What's that?" Grace asked.

"What if we AREN'T approaching the merge and we have another Immunity?" Bianca asked. "If we lose again, who are we voting for?"

"If we lose again, we'll just vote out Yori." Grace said. "The idol's already gone and we know not to fall for anything she says."

"_The girls and I formed a tight alliance after we got split up from our previous alliances. I think both Edwina and Bianca are wanting to try a do better than they did before." Grace said with a smirk. "I, however, have Liz on the other tribe, so that will brings the odds up in our favour again."_

"We'll just see what tomorrow brings for now." Grace suggested. "If we end up with another challenge, we'll just go with it."

"Fine. But I hope you're right about this." Bianca said. "I still think keeping Yori was a bad idea."

"_Grace is liable to assume a form of leadership in this new alliance, and while I don't have a problem with that, she'd better not take it too far." Bianca said. "I don't like getting bossed around or ordered to vote for someone I don't want to. The only reason I voted for Kayo was because Grace came to me and gave me logical reasons."_

The girls soon joined Yori in the shelter and went to sleep, knowing that they had another day ahead of them.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 20)**

"_We're been out here for almost three weeks now. The competition is officially half over. We haven't made the merge yet, but I know we're getting close." Carly said. "Inferno and I aren't giving up with finding the hidden Immunity Idol, but our chances of finding it before the merge hits are dwindling."_

"I don't get it." Inferno said, scratching his head. "The idols are supposed to be at the camps, but we've turned this place inside out."

"Did the same thing happen at your old camp?" Carly asked.

"Yeah. The girls, Kayo and Pierre searched Malabar top to bottom trying to find the idol and they STILL couldn't find it."

"Man. There must be something we're not getting."

"_It takes a lot to frustrate me, especially when you get used to hanging around psychos like Psymon and airheads like Marisol." Inferno replied. "But this is just bringing me to my wit's end. Both tribes I've been on have done almost nothing but search for the idol, and yet they still don't show up. Are we looking in the right places? Does the idol even LOOK like an idol?"_

Standing aside as Tokyo was making a fire, Liz and Mugg looked at each other.

"Who do you think was voted out last night?" Liz asked.

"I dunno. We really don't know what the other tribe's thinking, after all." Mugg shrugged.

"Yeah. It could have been anyone to be eliminated." Liz nodded. "I hope it was a physical threat though. Especially if we're coming to the merge."

"Why's that?"

"Look around. Including you, there are FOUR physical threats on this tribe alone."

"Yeesh. You're right."

"_Inferno, Luther and Tokyo are all physical threats, and so am I. If we're coming up to the merge, it's going to be rough work trying to win a challenge, even for us." Mugg pointed out. "Maybe I SHOULD hope that someone strong got voted out last night. It would make our time later on much easier."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 20)**

"No treemail?" Bianca asked as Edwina returned from the treemail box.

"No. There's probably no challenge today if we haven't gotten notification by now." Edwina replied with a shrug.

"_We didn't get any treemail today, and that means that something will be happening tomorrow." Edwina said. "It gives us a day to ponder over some things or think about what we can do in the future. For now, we need to put together a strategy for when we reach the merge."_

"How are we going to get the majority at the merge?" Edwina asked. "There will only be the three of us."

"Grace has an ally on the other team. That'll make it four." Bianca said. "In addition, there are a lot of physical threats. We may be able to convince a few people to vote how we want."

"_The good thing about having numerous physical threats around at the merge is that people will target them first." Bianca explained. "If they don't see people like me as sneaky, they'll go straight for the people that can get to the end simply by winning everything that is thrown at them."_

"What about later on?" Edwina asked. "Were you thinking of a final two deal?"

"The thought crossed my mind. To be honest, I don't know if I'd want to go against Grace in the finals." Bianca nodded.

"Me neither."

"_Bianca and I realized that, if we were going to make up the final two, we'd need to eliminate Grace at some point." Edwina said. "One may think that I'd have a harder choice choosing between Bianca and Grace, but Bianca's been through what I have. We've both lost an alliance member while Grace hasn't. At least we know how each other feels about that."_

"Where IS Grace, anyway?" Edwina asked.

"I don't know. She wasn't in the shelter when I got up and I haven't seen her all morning." Bianca replied.

"I hope she isn't making some side deal with Yori."

"I doubt it."

**(Roka Tribe)**

"No luck in finding the idol?" Liz asked.

"No. This isn't good. You think someone's already found it?" Mugg asked.

"It's likely, but it's also likely that we're missing the point completely for something." Liz replied.

"_We know everyone's been searching for the idol, but the fact remains that no one appears to be finding it." Liz said. "This can tell us two things: That either someone has found it or we're all complete tools and we're missing the idol completely."_

"If someone's found it, who are the potential candidates?" Liz asked.

"Carly knows she needs it, but the strong guys are looking for it too because they'll need it later." Mugg replied. "In all honesty, it could be any one of them."

"I know. However, since we've been looking for a while and still haven't found it, we may have to assume that it was found before Malabar was dissolved."

"Sounds about right, but that still only eliminates Inferno."

"_Trying to deduce who could have the idol is tough, because it could literally be anyone on the tribe." Mugg folded his arms. "I'm personally thinking that Carly has it, while Liz is leaning towards one of the strong guys. We won't know for sure unless we start digging deeper to find out more."_

Meanwhile, Tokyo was sitting at his newly-started fire as Luther came over.

"What's going on?" Tokyo asked. "I've been seeing Liz and Mugg talking recently, so I think a new alliance may be in the works."

"I'm pretty much convinced that Carly formed a separate alliance with Inferno." Luther added as he sat down. "I still haven't seen either of them for the majority of the day."

"Still searching for the idol, though?" Tokyo asked.

"Yeah, although I've been seeing Inferno getting a little more flustered recently." Luther replied. "He's probably mad at the fact that he can't find it."

"Now I KNOW he's hiding something." Tokyo said.

"_I'll admit that Tokyo's had his suspicions of Inferno in the past, but he's got me half-convinced that he's right now." Luther said. "We rarely see Inferno around, and when we do, he's lately been acting frantic as he searches the camp. That's telling me that he knows how to play the game, and he needs the idol to do it."_

**(Sa'zan Tribe)**

Yori looked around. She could see Edwina and Bianca, but Grace was nowhere to be seen. Trying to ignore this but still wondering where Grace was, Yori walked around camp.

"_I lost my only ally last night, and the other girls seem to be in a tight alliance. You'd think that four girls on the same tribe would result in a big friendship, but that's clearly not the case." Yori explained. "They don't like me and, quite frankly, Grace is the only one I'd consider keeping around and that's only because I think she can be swayed."_

"How is this going to work?" Yori asked herself. "Maybe I can align with the strong guys on Roka and focus their attention on the girls if I keep them around."

Yori walked towards the fire pit, seeing as how the girls weren't there, and started making a fire. "Maybe I could team up with the strongest of the bunch. Maybe the guy in the black hood…"

"_I need to get a stable ally at the merge since getting to the end will be extremely difficult on my own. The hardest part is finding someone that will join me." Yori said. "The strong guys don't intimidate me, and I know they'll all be looking for an extra vote. People like Luther and Tokyo will likely be begging for my help, while Inferno and Mugg may have a bit of trouble aligning with me at first."_

Meanwhile, Grace was standing just off the shore, observing the rest of the tribe. Like Yori, she was putting a few ideas in her head for later.

"We'll likely be targeted at the merge because we're in the minority." Grace mused to herself. "If we can focus more attention on others, we're good. I just need a little extra assurance."

"_If we get to the merge, we'll need to try and get Roka to turn on each other before they focus on us." Grace said, arms folded. "It won't be hard to register the strong guys as a threat, but after that it'll be a whole other story. I guess the only thing we can do at the moment is run with it and hope we can cross the bridge when we get there."_

Night eventually rolled in. Both teams decided to go to bed, as they knew that there would be a challenge tomorrow they needed to be ready for.

**(Roka Tribe; Day 21)**

"_We're going to be having a challenge today since we didn't have one yesterday. Reward or Immunity, we obviously don't know." Tokyo said with a shrug. "What we're obviously going to be focusing on is continuing our winning streak, but if we lose, we need to make sure we have all our bases covered just in case."_

"Okay. If we lose, we're targeting Carly." Tokyo checked.

"Yeah, but what if she's got the idol?" Luther asked.

"We could try and talk to Carly and say that we're targeting Liz." Tokyo suggested. "That may trick her into not playing the idol if she even has it."

"That may be the best choice at the moment." Luther nodded.

"_We need to make sure we know what's going on in the game. I know I may not look it, but I'm smarter than how the generic executioner is portrayed in movies." Luther said. "I'm aware of what's going on and I'm also well aware that it's not going to be an easy ride to the end. We need to determine how a potential vote will go before it happens."_

"Hey, guys. We got some treemail." Inferno said. The rest of the tribe already gathered around the disco fanatic.

"Well, let's go check it out." Tokyo said as he and Luther walked over. "What's it say this time?"

"It just says to come to this specific location." Inferno replied. "It doesn't say anything else."

"You think he's keeping the challenge a secret?" Liz asked.

"Dunno. We're going to have to find out when we go there." Inferno replied.

"_We got this treemail that didn't give any specifics. I'm already getting the feeling that this is the merge treemail." Inferno said. "If it is, I'll be kicking myself for a while for not finding that Immunity Idol sooner."_

"Time to find out who got eliminated a couple of days ago." Tokyo said.

"Yeah. Still don't know who it was." Liz nodded.

**(Sa'zan Tribe; Day 21)**

"Ugh…Why does it seem brighter today?" Grace asked as she crawled out of the shelter and into the sun.

"It's been kind of cloudy for a couple of days." Edwina shrugged. "You're probably just not used to the sun like this."

"I never noticed it." Grace moaned. "I hope this won't factor into the challenge."

"You think there's going to be a challenge?" Edwina asked.

"I assume there is. There wasn't one yesterday."

"_Grace apparently doesn't think straight when she first wakes up. She appears to have forgotten that we're approaching the merge." Edwina said, lifting an eyebrow. "I mean, there are ten people left at this point. The merge usually happens around this point, and Grace apparently overlooked that."_

"Where's Bianca?" Grace asked.

"Checking treemail."

Meanwhile, Bianca was indeed walking to get treemail, but by herself. She crossed the shallow water from the island to the shore, where the treemail box was.

"I guess it's good to check treemail alone once in a while." Bianca said. "Gives me more time to think."

"_I don't want to tell Grace about my little side deal with Edwina. I know I would have trouble against Grace in the finals, but I'd have no problem with Edwina." Bianca explained. "She may be the Survivor fan here, but she hasn't exactly done a whole lot to express her so-called knowledge of the game."_

Bianca, finding a letter in the treemail box, returned to camp with it. "We've got treemail, girls." She announced.

"Does it give any specifics?" Edwina asked.

Bianca looked over the letter. "Uh…No. It just has a list of directions." She replied.

"That's strange…" Grace said.

In the meantime, Yori gave a slight smirk that none of the other girls noticed.

"_My work has paid off and now I can start anew." Yori said, still smirking._

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Roka Tribe stood on their mat, waiting for the Sa'zan Tribe to arrive. The two mats were placed on the beach.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the Sa'zan Tribe." SSBFreak said. The Sa'zan Tribe walked into view and people say that there were four girls and no guys. "Kayo was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Mugg looked surprised, but managed to conceal it as the Sa'zan Tribe stepped onto their mat.

"This is the location of your next Reward Challenge…If we were actually having a Reward Challenge." SSBFreak said. "As you can see, there are ten of you left. I think it's about time to kick things into high gear and get you guys playing for real."

"The merge! We've made the merge!" Edwina cheered.

"You're right, Edwina. As of now, the tribes are officially dissolved and it's now a free-for-all competition. No longer will there be team Immunity up for grabs. From here on out, it's Individual Immunity, keeping only one of you safe from elimination at each Tribal Council." SSBFreak said. "You guys may hand in your buffs, seeing as how you're on the same tribe now."

Everyone handed over their buffs, tossing them onto a pile. SSBFreak then handed out new buffs, these ones a bright cherry red.

"These are your new buffs and will represent your new tribe." SSBFreak explained. "However, we need a central tribe that people can call their home, so I will need you guys to choose one of the two remaining tribes to merge into."

The merged tribe gathered together to try and discuss where to go, but Grace spoke first.

"Can we just merge to the Roka Tribe?" Grace asked aloud.

"You seriously want to do that?" Carly asked. "It's not much of a tribe."

"It's probably better than Sa'zan." Grace replied. "Our tribe is literally an island. You have to walk through water to get treemail."

"You guys okay with that?" Tokyo asked.

"Sounds like we got it better." Luther shrugged.

"Okay. That's it, then." Inferno nodded before looking at the host. "We're gonna merge at the Roka Tribe's camp."

"Okay. The Roka camp will be your home for the remainder of the competition, but you need a new name, which I hope the tribe will have by the next challenge." SSBFreak said. "That is all for now, so you can head to your new camp."

**(Roka Tribe)**

"_Yes! I made it! I actually made the merge! I never thought a fan like me could actually make it this far!" Edwina cheered. "Okay! Now I just need to focus on winning challenges by myself. It's going to be hard when there are so many physical threats, but I'll do better with mental challenges."_

"So this is your tribe." Bianca said as she looked around. "I have to say that I think I may like it better than ours."

"Seriously?" Tokyo asked.

"Like Grace said, we had to walk through shallow water just to check for treemail, let along leave the camp to go to the challenges." Bianca replied.

"That would have gotten annoying after a while." Tokyo scratched his head.

"You get used to it." Edwina shrugged. "I found it refreshing, to be honest."

"_It feels good to make the merge, but now we need to focus on winning individual challenges to make sure that we're safe." Tokyo explained. "This means that people like Luther and I are going to be targeted because we're stronger. If I want to go further, I'm going to need to make sure I win Immunities."_

"Uh…If I may, I've got a question." Edwina said.

"Sure." Tokyo said.

"…What kinda name IS 'Tokyo', anyway?"

"Not you guys, too!"

"_Hey. It's not my fault he's got such a weird name." Edwina shrugged._

_Tokyo sat in front of the camera, giving it a flat look. His eye twitched a couple of times._

"Where IS Grace, anyway?" Luther asked. "She kinda vanished the instant you guys arrived."

"I don't know. It's funny because she was the one to suggest that we come here in the first place." Bianca replied.

Meanwhile, Grace was walking through the camp with Liz. Grace was smirking as Liz followed her.

"It's good to see that you made it this far on your own, Grace." Liz said with a nod. "How'd you do it?"

"I joined up with Bianca and Edwina when they each lost an alliance member." Grace replied. "Oh. That reminds me. Yori isn't to be trusted."

"Really?"

"Renaldo seriously injured himself before his last Tribal Council and Yori still made the attempt to keep him." Grace replied.

"Wow. That's…Uh…That's rough." Liz shook her head. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"The treemail box." Grace replied. However, she suddenly spotted the box and saw that the green emblem that adorned all three boxes was gone. "H-Hey! It's gone!"

"_I chose to come to Roka mainly because I figured the idol was still here, and since I knew where it would be, it would be easy pickings." Grace explained. "I wouldn't have expected the idol to be gone already. Someone on Roka either already has it or the idol's already long gone."_

"The emblems actually ARE the Hidden Immunity Idols?" Liz asked in surprise. "Does…That mean that Pierre…"

"Stupidly got himself eliminated while in possession of the ACTUAL Immunity Idol? Yep." Grace said. "But…It's still not here."

"That's so weird. Everyone's been looking for it ever since we started." Liz shook her head. "Only a fake idol was used since I got here."

"Wait. Idol?" Grace asked as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a familiar idol from earlier in the game.

"Isn't…Isn't that Pierre's fake idol?" Liz asked. "You had it this whole time?"

"Yes. You know what? Maybe we don't need the real idol. I can plant this and get an actual threat to play this." Grace suggested.

"Just as long as we don't go after the one that already has the REAL idol." Liz replied.

"_Grace showed me that she still had this fake idol that Pierre planted for us, and said that she could trick someone into thinking they were safe." Liz said. "That may be a good idea. If she can get someone like Luther to play that fake idol, he'll get blindsided when he assumes he's safe."_

Meanwhile, Mugg was wandering around. Things seemed a little more crammed since there were ten people as opposed to six, but Mugg tried to make the best of things and go about business.

Inferno saw him and came over. "Hey, man. Looks like Kayo got ousted at Tribal Council." He said. "Sorry about that."

"Uh…It's okay. Besides, you shouldn't be apologizing. You weren't even there." Mugg insisted.

"Cool. Surprised to see that we made it this far already?"

"You might say that. This will be where the game picks up."

"_Earlier in the game, it would have hit me harder if Kayo went. But now that I realize that he was preventing me from becoming my own person and actually confiding in the people I wasn't 'supposed to', I didn't take it as hard." Mugg shrugged. "Actually, I have to say that, while I'm surprised, I'm relatively indifferent…"_

Later on, the newfound tribe of ten was gathered around the fire pit. The sun was starting to go down, thereby ending their first day as a merged tribe. However, since they realized that they still needed a new tribe name, this was what was keeping people up.

"SSBFreak wanted the new name by tomorrow's challenge." Edwina said. "Does anyone have any ideas?"

"Carbonera?" Carly asked.

"Isn't that some type of pasta dish?" Grace asked.

"Hey. I like the word." Carly shrugged.

"Mandosa?" Luther asked.

"It doesn't sound catchy enough." Yori replied. "El Japelei?"

"Too complicated." Liz shook her head.

"How about Kalepa?" Edwina asked.

The tribe was silent, as if pondering over the suggested name.

"I kinda like it." Tokyo shrugged.

"Yeah. It's definitely the best of what we already suggested." Grace added. "Should we go with that, then?" No objections were raised. "Okay. We'll name the tribe Kalepa."

"_I personally didn't really care what we named the tribe. I just said the first thing that came to mind and it didn't go over well with the others." Yori said. "Like I said. I don't care. Naming the tribe isn't exactly what I want to spend a lot of my thinking on."_

The newly-named Kalepa Tribe soon decided to go to bed, as they expected a challenge the following day. It was a little crammed with ten people, but it was manageable.

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 22)**

"_We're going to be having our first Individual Immunity challenge today, and all of the strong guys know they're going to be targets." Bianca explained. "If we can focus attention on voting out the threats first, then the girls and I can go further into the game. Now we just need someone to target first."_

"Luther's clearly the strongest." Bianca pointed out.

"Yeah, but what if he wins Immunity?" Edwina asked. "All three of the other strong guys are around the same level of strength."

"Okay. Which of them do you think would be a mental threat as well?"

"I don't know. We don't know any of them."

"That's true."

"_The problem with going to the first challenge post-merge is that we don't know what to expect from some of our opponents." Edwina pointed out. "For all we know, we could target one of the strong guys when we should in fact target one of the other ones. We won't really know until we have a couple of challenges."_

Meanwhile, Grace and Liz were off talking near the shelter.

"Have any luck with the idol?" Liz asked.

"I saw one of the stronger guys pick it up." Grace said with a smirk. "If he plays it at Tribal Council, we'll sink him."

"How do you know he will?"

"Don't worry. Leave everything to me." Grace assured as she turned and left.

"Grace! Who found it?" Liz asked. She didn't get an answer.

"_I wanted to get back to what I was doing pre-switch, and that was finding a way to overcome opposing alliances. Now that Kayo's gone, I have a lot more confidence." Grace assured. "I've had that fake idol for almost half the competition now, so I want to make sure I pull off an epic blindside with it whenever it gets used."_

While everything was happening, Luther was going to the treemail box alone. He appeared to be pondering something.

"Everyone's going to be trying their hardest." He mused. "Now is when the game starts for real."

"_While making the merge is an accomplishment, everyone's going to be bringing their A game to every challenge." Luther explained. "This will make things harder for people like me, but it's not impossible."_

Luther returned to camp with a letter in hand. "We've got treemail, guys." He called out.

"Alright! Our first challenge as a merged tribe!" Edwina cheered. "This is so exciting!"

"What's it say, man?" Mugg asked.

"It just says to 'Prepare for a tournament you may not expect'." Luther explained.

"Hey, wait. A tournament? There are ten of us here." Inferno pointed out. "How can we have a tournament?"

"I guess we'll find out." Grace shrugged.

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The ten remaining castaways walked out of the jungle and onto the beach. Seeing SSBFreak and their new tribe mat standing aside, everyone walked over and stepped on to wait for the challenge to begin.

"Welcome to your first Individual Immunity challenge, everyone. Before we begin, I must first ask if a name for the new tribe has been decided on." SSBFreak said.

"We eventually decided on Kalepa." Liz replied.

"Okay. From here on out, you will now be known as the Kalepa Tribe. Anyway, onto today's challenge. We will be having a log-rolling tournament to determine who will win Immunity." SSBFreak said. People looked out into the water and indeed saw a log floating there. "You will go against each other one-on-one and the person left standing at the end will win Immunity."

"There are ten of us here." Inferno reminded. "That will leave us with an uneven number in Round 2."

"I'll reveal that to you when we get there." SSBFreak replied. "For now, we'll do the challenge normally. We've randomly chosen who will be going against who, so let's get started with the first match."

**(Later…)**

Tokyo and Yori stood on either end of the log. They both looked determined.

"I hope your cybernetic parts are waterproof." Tokyo taunted.

"I already said that they were. Not that it matters since I'm not going in the water." Yori replied with a smirk.

"First match is Tokyo vs. Yori. Ready…Go!" SSBFreak said.

The ninja and cyborg quickly started running on the log, going in the same direction. The two eyed each other, as if daring the other to drop into the water.

After several seconds, Tokyo quickly turned around and started to run in the other direction, hoping to knock Yori off. Unfortunately for him, Yori was moving at too fast of a pace to change and all Tokyo ended up doing was getting himself thrown into the water.

"Tokyo is down! Yori moves on!"

"Word to the wise, ninja. Practice hard and maybe you'll do better next time." Yori said with a smirk. "A better name couldn't hurt, either."

Grace and Carly were up next. The two girls eyed each other, as if daring the other to start.

"Second match is Grace vs. Carly. Ready…Go!"

The two girls started running, but it quickly became apparent that Grace was the more-athletic of the two. Carly tried to keep up, but was rapidly losing her footing.

It only took a matter of seconds. Grace moved far too quickly for Carly to keep up and the Muppet girl was sent hurtling into the water, ending the round quickly.

"Carly is out! Grace moves on!"

Mugg and Luther were up next. The other contestants knew that this would be an interesting match.

"Third match is Mugg vs. Luther. Ready…Go!"

The two strongmen started running at equal pacing. When this continued for several seconds, everyone else knew that it would go either way, especially after they were both able to stay on the log after speeding up.

Out of the three matches, this one turned out to be the longest by far. However, in the end, Mugg lost his footing first and toppled over the back of the log, landing headfirst into the water. Luther wavered a couple of times, but kept his footing.

"Mugg is down! Luther moves on!"

Next up were Liz and Inferno. Inferno looked laid back, but Liz knew by now not to take that lightly.

"Fourth match is Liz vs. Inferno. Ready…Go!"

The two castaways started running on the log in an attempt to knock the other in the water. Like the previous match, it appeared that there wouldn't be a clear winner. The two started running faster and managed to keep up fairly well.

However, Inferno started running even faster, catching Liz off guard. The redhead rocker girl tried to keep up with the sudden change in speed, but was unable to do so and fell into the water.

"Liz is down! Inferno moves on!"

"Sorry about that, Liz." Inferno said with a smirk. "But I need Immunity."

The last two to go were Bianca and Edwina, both of whom looked ready to go and attempt to move on in the tournament.

"Last match in Round One is Bianca vs. Edwina. Ready…Go!"

Bianca and Edwina started running, both wanting to stay in the running for Immunity. They both appeared to be keeping up with each other and started picking up the pace in an attempt to throw the other player off.

The match ended abruptly after going on for several seconds. The happened when Edwina appeared to trip over her own feet. Edwina landed on the log as it was still spinning, causing her to get dumped into the water.

"Edwina is down! Bianca moves on!"

**(Later…)**

Yori, Grace, Luther, Inferno and Bianca stood in front of SSBFreak.

"You five have survived round one. However, we have an uneven amount of people to start round two." SSBFreak said. "So, for this, I'm going to need one of you to drop out of the challenge. If you think you won't be targeted, you may find it wise to drop out now."

The five looked at each other for several seconds, wondering who would make the move first. After what seemed like an eternity, Grace held up her hand.

"From what I know, I'm not a target." Grace said. "I'll drop out."

"Okay. With that, Grace is out and round two is officially ready to start." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

Yori and Luther were back on the log. They both looked confident with their chances.

"First match of Round Two is Yori vs. Luther. Ready…Go!"

The two started running on the log, trying to knock each other into the water. When the match went on for a number of seconds and the two started running faster, people knew that it would likely go either way.

In spite of her earlier confidence, Yori went into the water first. Luther proved to have better balance when running at high speeds, causing Yori to lose her footing first and fall into the water.

"Luther wins and advances to the finals!"

Next up were Inferno and Bianca. The Bianky didn't like her chances now that she saw what she was up against, but told herself that she could take Inferno down.

"Final match in Round Two is Inferno vs. Bianca. Ready…Go!"

Inferno and Bianca started running on the logs, quickly speeding up with the intent to knock the other player in the water. Neither of the two fell in.

This continued for a bit and neither of the two players fell into the water. Inferno suddenlt stopped running and dug his feet into the log, effectively stopping it and sending Bianca flying into the water in surprise.

"Inferno also advances to the finals!"

The remaining two players, Luther and Inferno stood on the log. The two men eyed each other, knowing that they'd be in for a rough ride trying to win Immunity.

"The final round is Luther vs. Inferno. Ready…Go!"

The executioner and disco fanatic started running, quickly proving to be fierce competitors with the fact that they quickly sped up the rolling and neither of them fell off.

The match continued for several seconds and both men were still going strong. By now, people on the shore were starting to wonder who would go into the water first. It could really go either way at this point.

Suddenly, Inferno tripped up and fell into the water, hitting the log on the way down. Inferno went under the water, leaving Luther standing on the log alone.

"Inferno is out! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Luther wins Immunity!"

Luther pumped his arms into the air and cheered before jumping into the water himself.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Luther. You have a one in nine chance at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed Luther the Immunity Necklace.

Luther accepted the necklace, then saw that SSBFreak was holding a second one. "Uh…Why do you have another necklace?" He asked.

"I was just about to get to that." SSBFreak said. "Grace, will you come here?"

"Uh…Sure." Grace said as she approached the host.

"You didn't think we'd make you drop out of the challenge and not offer you anything in return, did you?" SSBFreak asked as he handed Grace the second necklace. "You are also immune from tonight's vote. This will be the only time I hand out two necklaces."

"Seriously?" Grace asked as she took the idol. "Alright!"

SSBFreak turned to the rest of the castaways. "Luther and Grace are both safe tonight. However, I'll be seeing everyone at Tribal Council tonight, where you will all be taking part in voting someone out. I'll leave it to you to determine who it will be, so you can all head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Luther won Immunity, which means we need to shift targets. Grace hasn't told me who she's thinking of targeting, so I'm forced to take measures into my own hands." Liz explained. "From what I can tell, it's a toss-up between Inferno and Tokyo. We just need to determine who the bigger threat is."_

"I say we go for Tokyo." Mugg said. "We're both more-familiar with Inferno, but Tokyo may be harder to read."

"That's actually a good point." Liz noted. "Think we can get Inferno on board with voting out Tokyo?"

"Hey, it means he isn't going." Mugg shrugged.

"But what about you? Your name's likely going to come up."

"I think that if we can get more focus on the others first, then they may overlook me altogether."

"_I may be in danger because I'm probably just as strong as Inferno and Tokyo, but we just need to get them to focus on each other." Mugg explained. "I know both of those guys will likely be voting against each other, so we just need a couple extra votes for Tokyo and we're good."_

Meanwhile, Luther and Tokyo were standing to the side of the shelter, talking about the vote.

"Since you won Immunity, people are likely going to be considering voting for me." Tokyo said, folding his arms. "We need to find someone else to target and convince the others to vote for him."

"Who's your main competition?" Luther asked, looking around.

"No contest; Inferno." Tokyo replied casually.

"Then we'll vote for him."

"_I'm not going to deny that I'm worried. People are probably going to vote for me since Luther is immune, but I can still persuade some people to vote for Inferno." Tokyo said, arms folded. "I need six votes for a majority, and I only need four more. Maybe I can get Yori and the girls from Sa'zan to vote with us…"_

Meanwhile still, Carly and Inferno were by the fire pit, also talking about the vote.

"Man. I'm relieved that I'm actually not going to be targeted." Carly said in relief.

"That doesn't exactly help me, Carly." Inferno replied. "We need some votes, and I don't know where to start."

"Who should we go to?" Carly asked.

"Maybe I can help you."

Inferno looked over his shoulder and saw Grace coming over with a smirk.

"_Yeah. I know the vote can be close, but I need all the help I can get at this point. I know I sound so paranoid right now, but I can literally be voted out." Inferno said. "I'm not ready for that, so if I'm going down, don't expect me to go down without a fight."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The ten Kalepa players entered Tribal Council with lit torches. Finding their seats amongst the scattered stumps, everyone sat down and waited for Council to start.

"Welcome to your first Tribal Council as a merged tribe, Kalepa. In a moment, you will all be voting out one of your own. From here on out, things are just going to get harder." SSBFreak said before deciding to start asking questions. "Tokyo, it's been a while since I've seen you Roka players here. Any particular reason for the sudden winning streak?"

"I find it ironic, actually. We were doing pretty bad at first, and then we vote out Lucy and we win all consecutive Immunity Challenges." Tokyo said with a smirk. "Turns out she WAS weighing us down in the end."

"Yori, how are things like on a merged tribe?"

"Not bad, but I feel things could be better. I felt a bit nervous considering that the Roka players outnumber us, but they may be willing to vote each other out first." Yori said.

"Care to explain?"

"The Roka Tribe has FOUR physical threats, all of which would stupid to take to the end." Yori replied. "I think they may be the first to go before we start getting targeted."

Bianca rolled her eyes and SSBFreak noticed this. "You have something to add, Bianca?" He asked.

"Yori's acting all innocent of everything, but she doesn't want to show the majority tribe that she was responsible for eliminating half our tribe." Bianca replied. "She's probably trying to take a target off herself."

"Still haven't gotten over it yet, have you?" Yori asked.

"You voted out my best friend after you gained my trust!"

"She had NO ARMS."

"Edwina, since you're the Survivor fanatic, how did you feel to make the merge?" SSBFreak asked.

"It felt amazing! Coming onto the show, I always wanted to make this point in the game! Now the game picks up for real and everyone's out for themselves!" Edwina replied excitedly. "I just hope I can survive a few Tribal Councils to see how everyone here handles the different styles of challenges when it's a free-for-all!"

"Mugg, how do you think the vote is going to go tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"I've heard my name come up, as well as Tokyo's and Inferno's." Mugg replied. "It makes sense since we're all physical threats and targets since Luther has Immunity."

"So Luther would likely be a target if he didn't have Immunity?"

"I can almost guarantee that he'll get eliminated the instant he doesn't have Immunity."

"Inferno, since you're apparently a target, are you worried?" SSBFreak asked.

"At this point in the game, no one's safe, man." Inferno replied. "You can either be targeted because you're a physical threat, because you're a mental threat or because you're a jury threat. I personally don't think it's right to target me yet, since there are better people to go after first."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. Before we proceed, I have to ask." SSBFreak said. "Luther and Grace, you both have Immunity. Will either of you be giving it up tonight?"

"Not a chance." Luther replied.

"I'm keeping it." Grace added.

"Luther and Grace are both immune and cannot be voted out. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Carly, you're up."

The Muppet got up and left the hut to go vote. Carly approached the voting table, scribbled a name down and placed it into the urn.

Luther didn't waste any time. He quickly wrote a name down on his ballot and shoved it into the urn when he was done.

Edwina bit her lip in thought before making her decision and writing a name down. She placed her vote into the urn and left the table.

Yori was smirking as she wrote a name down. Scanning over her ballot, Yori placed it into the jar and left without a word.

Tokyo wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I have a feeling it's you or me." He explained, having voted for Inferno.

Liz nervously approached the table and wrote a name down. Making sure she wrote the right name, she placed it into the urn.

Grace was giving a smirk as she wrote a name down. "This should be good." She said as she placed her ballot into the urn.

Mugg wrote a name down and turned it, revealing Tokyo's name. "You're gonna become the biggest threat, man." He said.

Inferno silently approached the table and wrote a name down. He didn't bother showing it to the camera as he put it into the urn.

Bianca was the last to vote. The Bianky quickly scribbled a name down and indifferently put it into the urn before going back to the hut.

After all ten players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it momentarily. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to-"

"Hold up, man."

Mugg stood up. "I found this at camp and I'd like to play it." He said as he pulled an idol from his shirt.

Sitting beside Mugg, Liz's eyes snapped open in horror when she recognized the idol. Even still, Mugg walked forward and handed it to the host. SSBFreak inspected it for a few seconds.

"Mugg, this isn't the real Immunity Idol." SSBFreak explained.

"W-Wait. What?" Mugg asked in shock.

"It's fake, Mugg. I can't accept this." SSBFreak repeated as he tossed the fake idol into the fire. "Unless you have the real idol…"

"…N-No. I don't." Mugg said as he slowly returned to his seat. Liz's eyes were still wide.

"If no one will be playing the real idol, it's time to read the votes…" SSBFreak said.

"…First vote; Inferno." Inferno shifted nervously.

"Tokyo." Tokyo bit his lip.

"Inferno." The disco fanatic looked a little paranoid.

"Mugg." Mugg was still surprised at the recent turn of events.

"Mugg." Sitting behind Liz and Mugg, Grace was smirking.

"Tokyo. We're tied at two each." Tokyo and Inferno exchanged glances.

"…Mugg." Liz looked even more worried than Mugg by now.

"Mugg." Mugg could only sit there as Liz looked at him sympathetically.

"Mugg." Mugg sighed. "Last vote, first member of the jury and ninth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Mugg. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"I can't believe that just happened." Mugg said as he grabbed his torch and brought it forward. "How could that have been fake?"

"Mugg, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Mugg's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"I'll be watching all of you." Mugg said as he left the hut.

Once Mugg was gone, SSBFreak turned to look at the remaining players. "And so ends your first merged Tribal Council and the second time this season a fake idol was played. Mugg obviously didn't see that coming, although I can see not a lot of you did, either." SSBFreak said. "There are nine of you left, but I can promise you that the competition is only going to get tougher. You can all head back to camp."

The remaining nine players stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Liz brought up the rear, looking down. She knew where the fake idol had come from, but was still kept in the dark because she wasn't told anything. Although there was nothing she could do about it, Liz wished that she had known Grace's intended target before it was too late…

"_Well, that sucked. I really wanted to do better than that, but I guess some things just aren't meant to be. Well, at least I made the jury, so my role in the game isn't done yet." Mugg folded his arms. "The fake idol just threw me for a loop, though. If that was a fake and we've all been looking for it, where the heck is the real one?"_

**Voting History:**

**Mugg – Bianca, Carly, Edwina, Grace, Inferno and Yori**

**Inferno – Luther and Tokyo**

**Tokyo – Liz and Mugg**

Author's Note: I was honestly expecting Mugg to be a filler character when I cast him. Heck, during planning stages, he didn't even form a friendship with Liz and was instead voted out normally. I think the friendship he formed with Liz not only expanded his character, but paved the way for more story elements (as you will soon see).


	10. Days 23 to 24

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_I used Pierre's fake idol and managed to get rid of Mugg. He stupidly fell for it, but since he had never seen the fake idol before, he likely wouldn't have caught on." Grace explained. "Now that he and Kayo are both out of the game, I can focus on getting Liz and I further into the game with no obstacles."_

"Grace, why didn't you say anything?" Liz demanded as she pulled Grace aside. "Why didn't you tell me you were gunning for Mugg?"

"I thought it was obvious." Grace replied. "It was our goal since the start to get rid of both Mugg and Kayo."

"No. It was YOUR goal!" Liz replied. "Mugg and I actually befriended each other on this tribe! At the very least, it would have been an extra vote! You should have told me about your idea so I could have warned him or at least told you voting him out was a bad idea!"

"Liz, he was obviously trying to play you." Grace reminded. "You don't need to get so emotional, though. We're on the same side here."

Liz narrowed her eyes. "I thought we were, Grace. I REALLY thought we were." She said as she turned and walked away.

"_Grace got Mugg eliminated by planting Pierre's fake idol, completely disregarding me and neglecting to check with me to see if things had changed." Liz pointed out, arms folded. "She obviously assumed that nothing had changed since the two of us got split up, but she never really gave me a chance to say otherwise."_

Meanwhile, Tokyo approached Yori, who was standing off towards the shore of the camp.

"Yori, the girls have given us the thoughts that you can't be trusted. We decided to save you, so I hope that this means you won't try to pull one over on us now." Tokyo said.

"I appreciate you sparing me. I likely won't be trying anything." Yori assured.

"Good, because I guarantee we won't be falling for it." Tokyo warned.

"_Did I mention that I'm a good liar? I know better than to try and turn the tables on these people for now, but I want to make sure some conflict is stirred up." Yori explained. "The past vote seems to have caused some sort of disagreement between Grace and Liz, so that's a start. I need to take as much attention off of me as possible…"_

"_We don't trust Yori, but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt for now. She knows that nothing she will say will work on us, but that may not stop her from trying anyway." Tokyo mused. "I know we need to keep an eye on Inferno, but Yori's definitely a potential threat if she can convince enough people to vote with her."_

The nine remaining players decided to go to bed. They figured that they would get the answers they needed in the morning…

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 23)**

"_Thanks to Grace's plan with this fake idol she found, she was able to keep all three of us around even though we were in the minority." Bianca explained. "That being said, Liz didn't seem to thrilled with the outcome, which surprised me since Grace told Edwina and I she was aligned with her…"_

"Why did we end up targeting Mugg again?" Bianca asked Grace.

"_Well, he was the one that picked up the fake idol after I planted it. I knew he'd be using it regardless, so I wanted to make sure he went after he played it." Grace shrugged. "Plus, he was aligned with Kayo. Once Kayo left, Mugg was easy pickings."_

"Uh…That's fine and all, but Liz looked pretty mad last night." Edwina pointed out.

"Liz was under the impression that Mugg was trying to befriend her, but I know he was faking it. He had to have been." Grace shook her head.

"You…Never told her about the plan, did you?"

"I thought it would be obvious what the outcome would be."

Bianca and Edwina looked at each other.

"_Grace may have made a major mistake in voting out Mugg. I know the game and I know that relationships can change when you're not around." Edwina said. "I have a suspicion that Liz and Mugg actually DID befriend each other, but I'll have to check with Liz. Grace may have cost us an extra alliance member and she doesn't even realize it."_

Meanwhile, Liz was sitting at the fire pit, alone, looking at the ground. Standing aside, Luther and Tokyo watched her, then looked at each other.

"Looks like she was friends with Mugg after all." Tokyo explained.

"Yeah…But this could work in our advantage." Luther reminded.

Tokyo paused, then smirked and nodded.

"_Mugg was eliminated and it looks like he ended up befriending Liz. While this got her upset, this gives Luther and I a chance to get an extra alliance member." Tokyo explained. "Liz is without an alliance now, and that tells us that she's a free agent to those that are looking for an extra vote."_

"Hey, Liz?" Tokyo asked as he and Luther approached.

"Uh…Yeah?" Liz asked, looking up.

"Tokyo and I were wondering if you wanted to join forces." Luther asked. "You were friends with Mugg, right?"

"Yeah. It didn't start that way, but that turned out to be because Grace and Kayo wouldn't let us talk." Liz replied. "Why? You guys think I want to get back at the others?"

"That's what we assumed." Luther shrugged.

"You didn't vote for Mugg, did you?"

"No. We were the two votes for Inferno." Tokyo assured.

"Well…Okay, I'll join." Liz nodded. "But I don't want to target Inferno first."

"That's no problem. We'll go after Yori first." Luther replied. "She's another physical threat."

"_It became obvious to us long ago that Liz had some deal going on with Inferno, but in order to secure her vote, Tokyo and I need to target someone else." Luther informed. "That's no problem for me. We can target Inferno after getting rid of Yori. Frankly, I think the tribe would be better without her around, anyway."_

"_Even though I'm still technically aligned with Grace, I want to make sure I have something to fall back on in case my current alliance goes south." Liz said, arms folded. "I think Luther and Tokyo are good guys and I think I can go far aligned with them. I just need to be sure about my current situation before I make a decision of what to do."_

Yori was down at the beach area of camp, trying to catch some fish, when Grace approached her from behind. Yori turned her head and saw Grace coming towards her.

"You wanted to say something, Grace?" Yori asked.

"I've come with an offer." Grace replied. "We'll spare you if you help us vote out either Luther or Tokyo next."

"Because of the fact that they're physical threats?"

"Yes. If neither one wins Immunity, we'll target the strongest." Grace nodded.

"_I want to vote out all of the physical threats first since we know we'll be having a lot of strength challenges at the merge." Grace explained. "If we don't take the threats out as soon as we can, they'll make the finals and may persuade the jury members to vote for them, saying that they overcame all sorts of obstacles that aren't even real."_

"So keep it in the back of your head that we'll go after the strong guys first." Grace informed. "If you go along with this and don't try anything, we'll keep you around."

"I'm just curious as to why you think you can actually threaten me like that." Yori lifted an eyebrow.

"You no longer have power here, Yori." Grace said with a smirk. "If you try anything, you WILL get eliminated."

"Fine. Whatever." Yori shrugged as Grace walked off.

"_The strong guys here don't intimidate me. What makes Grace think she CAN? It's almost laughable that she considers herself threatening." Yori chuckled. "Well, she threatened me and, although it was a weak attempt, it was still a threat. I'm going to need to think of ways to shift some focus at a later date…"_

Back at the shelter, Luther and Tokyo were again alone, as they left Liz by the fire pit.

"You think we can trust Liz?" Tokyo asked.

"If she votes emotionally, then we shouldn't have a problem." Luther replied. "The biggest question is where to get more votes from."

Tokyo looked through the shelter and saw Carly and Inferno talking near the trees of the jungle. He tilted his head. "What about them?" He asked.

Luther looked and saw the two secret alliance members talking. "Is that where they've been all these times?" He asked.

"Looks like it. Maybe we can get their votes." Tokyo suggested.

The two strongmen walked over to the secret alliance. Carly was the first to spot them and quickly pointed them out to Inferno. The disco fanatic turned and grinned nervously.

"Uh…H-Hey, dudes. What're you doing over here?" Inferno asked.

"Watching an apparent secret alliance talk together." Luther replied.

"L-Look, guys! I know that it looks like I've been trying to do plans behind your backs, but I've just been trying to keep Carly in the game up to the merge!" Inferno insisted.

"_Yeesh. Just when we thought our alliance was safe from being exposed, Luther and Tokyo discover us. I thought that they would tell the entire tribe about the alliance." Carly said. "Thankfully, they didn't seem like they were going to do that and instead made us an offer. I don't get it myself, but it'll keep our alliance a secret."_

"You want us to vote out Yori?" Inferno asked.

"Inferno, we'll have five votes against Yori if you join us." Luther explained. "I think we need to get rid of her before she does the same to us."

"Well…She DOES make me a little uneasy." Carly admitted.

"Yeah. I don't like her either." Inferno scratched his head.

"Okay. Just remember to vote for Yori if she loses Immunity. In fact, we should just try to make sure she loses depending on the challenge." Luther nodded.

"Okay. We'll think it over." Inferno nodded.

With that, Luther and Tokyo left the others alone and went back to their spot by the shelter.

"That seemed too easy." Tokyo mused.

"Well, we DID find out about their secret alliance." Luther said. "Now we know what's been up with Inferno."

"That can't be it, though."

"_Call me paranoid, but I don't think saving Carly is Inferno's whole goal. I still think he's hiding something, but I just don't know what." Tokyo explained. "Luther seems convinced, but I still have my suspicions about Inferno…"_

Meanwhile, Carly and Inferno watched the strongmen walk off. "What just happened?" Carly asked.

"I think we've been pulled into another alliance's vote." Inferno replied.

"Should we go along with it?"

"We'll have to see what comes up…"

"What do you think we should do?"

"Well…" Inferno said, pondering something over. "I actually may have an idea. Come on."

"_The beauty of this is that I'm already on a technical alliance. It's just that the Roka players don't know it." Inferno pointed out. "Carly and I can still get out of this jam without letting our secret alliance get out, but it'll just take a little more work and patience to pull off. That being said, it can still be done."_

Night eventually rolled in. The nine remaining players decided to g to bed, knowing that there would be a challenge the following day.

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 24)**

"_Since we didn't have a challenge yesterday, we know that there's going to be one today. We obviously don't know what it is, but we're all nervous regardless." Carly explained. "We all want to win challenges now that they're individual, even if it's just a Reward Challenge. Everyone's going to be bringing it at this point."_

"So what's the plan for the challenge?" Carly asked. "I know we don't know what the challenge IS, but we should at least have some sort of plan."

"Yeah. I say we just try and keep the physical threats from winning if the challenge allows it." Inferno said. "There may not be much we can do depending on the type of challenge."

"I know. It kills me to just wait around for treemail to come." Carly muttered, arms folded.

Meanwhile, Grace was talking to Bianca and Edwina to the side of the shelter, informing them of future plans.

"We'll try and keep the strong guys from winning." Grace said. "If we can, we'll try and vote for Luther."

"There's just three of us, Grace." Bianca reminded. "Who else do you have on board?"

"I told Yori we'd spare her if she voted with us and I think we can get Inferno and Carly as well. Plus, you forget that Liz is aligned with me."

"You DID tell her the plan this time, right?" Edwina asked.

"It should be obvious." Grace said. "I mean, Luther's the strongest, so who else would she go after?"

_Edwina sat in front of the camera and facepalmed. "I seriously think I could play a better game than this if I didn't need an alliance." She moaned. "Grace assumes Liz is already on board with the vote without even going to check with her. I know this isn't going to end well unless someone talks to Liz."_

"Looks like we've got treemail." Liz said as she approached the others with a letter.

"Time for the next challenge." Tokyo nodded.

"It just says 'How much do you know the game you're playing'?" Liz read.

"Sounds like a trivia challenge." Yori noted.

"Great." Luther muttered.

"Yeah, but about what?" Tokyo asked.

"Sweet! This could be good!" Edwina said happily.

"_Trivia's never been one of my strong points. I know I'll be having fierce competition today, so I just need to hope the challenge is a topic I know." Luther explained. "It could go any way, but if I want to win, I need to make sure I cover all my bases in this challenge."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Kalepa Tribe emerged from the jungle and walked onto a clearing. Seeing their tribe mat on the ground, everyone walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will see how much you know about the actual Survivor." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw several tablets sitting aside. "I will ask you a series of questions with two possible answers. All you need to do is show me which answer you think is the correct one. If you're right, you stay in the game. If you aren't you're out. The last person standing at the end will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

Everyone looked indifferent, but knew that a lot was at stake here and it was relying on a trivia challenge.

"If you'll all grab your tablets and line up, we can start." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

The nine players stood in a straight, horizontal line, each holding two tablets. They looked ready to start and SSBFreak noticed this.

"Okay. For Immunity, let's begin." SSBFreak said. "Here's the first question…"

"…Who was booed by the audience at the reunion for Gabon?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Corrine, or B: Randy."

It didn't take long for the players to answer. Everyone held up their tablets and they were all A's.

"Corrine is the right answer. Everyone got it right, and thus no one is eliminated." SSBFreak said.

"That was TOO easy." Liz mused.

"Then let's move on to something a little harder." SSBFreak said. "Who was the first person in the series to Quit the game? A: BB in Boreno, or B: Osten in Pearl Islands?"

People had to think back for this question, but held up their answers. Most people were holding up B's, but Inferno and Grace were holding up A's.

"The answer is Osten. BB was voted out normally." SSBFreak said. "Inferno and Grace are out."

"Thinking a little too far back…" Inferno shook his head as he left the field.

"Here's the next question: Who was the first person to be removed for medical purposes?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Michael in Australia, or B: Bruce in Panama?"

It took some more thinking on everyone's parts, but everyone held up their answers. It became clear that Luther and Yori were holding up B's.

"The correct answer is Michael. Luther and Yori are both out." SSBFreak said.

"Just my luck." Luther muttered.

This left Bianca, Carly, Edwina, Liz and Tokyo still in the game. SSBFreak continued. "Here we go with the next question: Which season of Survivor technically had twenty people, but only eighteen played?" He asked. "A: Palau, or B: Thailand?"

The five remaining players didn't have to think long for this question. Everyone was holding up A's.

"You must remember that well, seeing as how it had the dreaded 'Ulong-ing'. Palau is indeed correct." SSBFreak said. "No one is eliminated."

"This is getting interesting." Bianca mused.

"Here's the next question: Who of the following has played the game three times?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Richard, or B: James."

After a bit of thinking, the five players put up their answers. Carly was the only one holding an A.

"Richard was almost brought back, but was denied at the last minute. The correct answer is James." SSBFreak said. "Carly is the only one out."

"Man." Carly moaned as she walked off.

"Okay. Here's the next question: Which season was regarded as 'Fans vs. Favourites'?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Tocantins, or B: Micronesia?"

The remaining four players thought for a moment, but held up their tablets. Bianca was the only one holding up an A.

"The two seasons were only two seasons apart, but the correct answer is Micronesia." SSBFreak said. "Bianca is out."

"That was harder than I thought it would be." Bianca shook her head.

"Here is the next question: Where was 'Heroes vs. Villains' filmed?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Africa, or B: Samoa?"

The three players quickly decided on an answer and held up tablets at almost the same time. They were all B's.

"Samoa is the correct answer. Once again, you all got it right. No one is eliminated."

"It's getting down to the wire." Tokyo muttered.

"Here's the next question: Which was the first season to have more than one person quit the game?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Thailand, or B: All-Stars?"

Once again, none of the three remaining players thought for long. Edwina, Liz and Tokyo all held up B's.

"All-Stars is correct and all three of you got it right. None of you are out."

"Come on. Come on." Edwina muttered.

"Here's the next question: Which winner is older TODAY?" SSBFreak asked. "A: Richard, or B: Tom?"

The three remaining players paused in thought for a few seconds before giving their answers. Edwina was the only one holding an A.

"Today, Tom would be approaching fifty…However, Richard has already passed that age." SSBFreak said. "Edwina's in the minority, but she's right!"

"Alright!" Edwina cheered.

"Edwina wins Immunity!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Edwina said.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Edwina. You have a one-in-eight chance at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed Edwina the Immunity Necklace.

"I still can't believe I actually won it." Edwina said happily.

SSBFreak turned to the rest of the players. "Edwina is safe, but I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council tonight, where you will vote another player out of the game." He said. "Now it's up to you to decide who you will be voting out tonight. I'll give you the rest of the day to make up your minds, but for now, you can head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_I did it! I totally won Immunity! It looks like my knowledge of Survivor actually came in handy for a challenge!" Edwina cheered. "Well, I'm safe tonight, so now we need to figure out who's going home. I mean, it should appear obvious who we're aiming for, but we can't be too sure."_

"Hey, Liz?" Edwina asked as she came over.

"Hey, Edwina. Congrats on the win." Liz said with a smirk.

"Thanks…Uh…Just out of curiosity, who are you voting for?" Edwina asked.

Liz was silent. "Why? Who is Grace targeting?" She asked.

"Luther. She didn't come to you, did she?"

Liz growled. "No." She said as she looked away.

"_Grace isn't telling me what she's thinking, as if the vote should be obvious. Well, she's not talking to me, so how am I supposed to know how to vote with her?" Liz asked. "Well, if she thinks I'm going to vote with her without her talking to me and telling me about it beforehand, she's mistaken."_

Meanwhile, Luther and Tokyo were talking by the fire pit.

"How are we going to do this?" Tokyo asked. "We know they're gunning for you and we don't have confirmed votes."

"We'll have to confirm that Carly and Inferno will vote with us." Luther replied. "It'll either be 5-4 for Yori or 6-3 for me depending on whether or not they flip."

"I know. That's what worries me."

"_The problem with being strong is that you get targeted early in the merge. Mugg suffered from that, and now I'm going through something similar." Luther pointed out. "However, if I want to stick around, we need to make sure we have the majority of the tribe voting for Yori. Right now, the only question marks are the secret alliance."_

Meanwhile again, the Sa'zan girls were off by the treemail box, also talking.

"Okay. We'll vote out Luther since he doesn't have Immunity. We not get another chance like this." Grace said.

"What if he has the idol?" Bianca asked.

"I'm not worried. Since we've been here, we've seen him looking for the idol, so we know he doesn't have it." Grace replied.

"_Grace thinks she knows how to play the game and assumes that since Luther appears to be looking for the idol, he must not have it." Yori said, rolling her eyes. "She's obviously not considering the possibility that he's faking it. Not that it bothers her, since she's not the one on the chopping block tonight."_

"Grace you didn't talk things over with Liz again." Edwina noted. "She seems kinda mad at you now."

Grace sighed. "I think she's just taking things a little too personal." She replied.

"You say that now, but I don't think that's the case…"

**(Tribal Council)**

The nine players walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Finding their spots on the remaining stumps, everyone sat down to wait for the council to commence.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of the Jury." SSBFreak said. "Although at the moment, it only consists of Mugg, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Everyone watched as Mugg walked into Tribal Council. They saw that he was wearing a blue suit and had his hair cut real short. Mugg walked over to the Jury bench and sat down.

"Mugg is only here to observe the outcome of Tribal Council. You are not to address him and he won't address you." SSBFreak said as he started asking questions. "Carly, how was camp after the last Tribal Council?"

"It could have been better. We were all surprised at the fake idol thing, but then we noticed that there was some tension building between Grace and Liz." Carly replied. "Although, it seems to be more from Liz's end."

"Liz, care to explain?" SSBFreak asked.

"That fake idol was something Pierre tried using on Grace and I early in the game, but we didn't fall for it. Then, after we get reunited again, Grace decides to use it on Mugg, who I actually befriended while she was gone, all without telling me in the first place!" Liz said, clearly mad.

"That's messed up." Mugg shook his head.

"Liz, Mugg was obviously using you. He was aligned with Kayo!" Grace insisted.

"That means NOTHING, Grace. You and Kayo were keeping us from actually getting to know each other." Liz shot back. "I'm actually ALLOWED to make friends out here."

"I never said you weren't. I just thought you had better judgment than that."

"That hurt." Mugg muttered.

"Luther, you had Immunity this time, but not this time." SSBFreak said. "You think you're a target?"

"I know I am. That's the problem with being strong at the merge." Luther replied, folding his arms. "I just need to convince some people that there are bigger threats in the game other than physical threats."

"Such as?"

"Strategic and jury threats. If you ask me, those types of threats are much-worse than physical threats." Luther shrugged.

"He's right on that." Mugg noted.

"Edwina, you have Immunity. Did you need it?" SSBFreak asked.

"Not really, but it was sweet just winning it. The feeling I got from winning the challenge was amazing and I won Immunity to show for it. The fact that it was a trivia challenge about Survivor didn't hurt, either." Edwina said with a smile.

"Tokyo, who are the targets tonight?"

"Luther and Yori, from what I've seen. Depending on how the vote goes, it'll either end up as a 5-4 split or a 6-3." Tokyo replied.

"You aren't saying which way they'll go?"

"Nope."

"Yori, who's getting your vote?" SSBFreak asked.

"It should be obvious. The only targets are myself and Luther, and there's no way I'm voting for myself." Yori replied. "Luther says that there are bigger threats than physical threats, but let's face it, if we kept physical threats in the game, they'd make the finals anyway."

"I think that's enough questions. Before we continue, I have to ask." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, you have Immunity. Are you giving it up?"

"No. I earned this."

"With that, Edwina is safe and can't be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Tokyo, you're up."

Tokyo stood up and left the hut to go to the voting table. The dark-haired man wrote a name down and shoved it into the urn.

Carly approached the table and paused in thought. She wrote a name down and put it into the urn, solidifying her vote.

Liz didn't look very happy as she approached the table. "There's no way I'm voting with Grace tonight." She said as she voted and left the table.

Yori shook her head and wrote a name down, showing it to the camera. "You're the strongest here. I just hope you don't have the idol." She said, having voted for Luther.

Edwina walked up to the table and wrote a name down. She sighed and shook her head as she placed her ballot into the urn.

Grace wrote a name down and shoved it into the jar. "I hope this works." She said as she turned and left the table.

Luther wrote a name down and turned it around, revealing Yori's name. "Liz doesn't want us to vote for Inferno." He shrugged.

Inferno gave a light smirk as he scribbled a name down. Taking a second to look at it, he put his ballot into the urn and left the table.

Bianca walked up to the table and quickly wrote a name down. "There's a lot riding on this vote." She said as she voted and left the table.

After everyone had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forth their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." SSBFreak said, waiting a moment to see if anyone was going to use the Hidden Immunity Idol. People were surprised when Luther didn't move. "It's time to vote…"

"…First vote; Luther." Luther narrowed his eyes.

"Luther." Luther clenched his fists in anticipation.

"Yori." Yori bit her lip, eyebrows furrowed.

"Luther." Tokyo was looking worried by this point.

"Yori." The two players in question exchanged glances.

"Yori. The scores are tied at three." Everyone waited in anticipation…

"…Luther." Luther took some deep breaths.

"Luther." Luther growled and looked down. "Last vote, second member of the Jury and tenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Luther. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"Well, that didn't go as I hoped." Luther muttered as he stood up, grabbed his torch and brought it to the host. Tokyo and Liz looked disappointed.

"Luther, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Luther's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Now the game begins…" Luther muttered as he left the hut.

Once Luther was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "Luther is gone, ending the run of the strongest player of the season. This is one of those nights where the vote could have gone either way, but it just didn't end in Luther's favour." SSBFreak said. "Eight of you remain. We are rapidly approaching the end, but there still needs to be more eliminations in order to have the finale. For now, you can all head back to camp." 

The remaining eight players stood up, grabbed their torches and left Tribal Council. Tokyo brought up the rear, looking mad. He was trusting Carly and Inferno to come through, but they didn't and Luther paid for it. Maybe it was time to tell people about this so-called secret alliance…

"_I did the best I could considering what I was up against. I lost the only challenge I could win at and I got eliminated because of it." Luther shrugged. "I wish I could have gone further, because I feel that the game was just starting to get interesting now that we were at the merge. Well, I guess I'll have to settle for a Jury position…"_

**Voting History:**

**Luther – Bianca, Carly, Edwina, Grace, Inferno and Yori**

**Yori – Liz, Luther and Tokyo**

Author's Note: And so the big physical threat bites the dust. I wanted Luther to be a big character when I started and I made him the leader of his alliance in the fight against Lucy. However, I needed other characters' stories to pick up after that and Luther's story was pretty much done by then anyway.


	11. Days 25 to 27

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Luther just got eliminated, leaving me without a real ally. We were at least hoping Carly and Inferno would come through and make it 5-4 to get rid of Yori, but that didn't happen." Tokyo folded his arms. "I'm mad at the two of them now for not sticking with us, but Liz seems to be angry again. I don't think I need to say why."_

"Grace didn't tell you anything, did she?" Tokyo asked.

"No. In all honesty, it's really frustrating me that she's excluding me from all alliance decisions." Liz shook her head. "The only reason I knew she was targeting Luther at all was because Edwina came to me and told me."

"And you still voted against her?"

"If she's not telling me anything, then how am I supposed to know how to vote?"

"_This is just getting ridiculous. I aligned with Grace when we started because I thought we could rely on each other." Liz rolled her eyes. "Now she's voted off TWO people without confiding in me ONCE. I need to tell her that this has to stop. She can't keep disregarding me like this."_

Meanwhile, Grace and the other girls were talking to Carly and Inferno about the vote.

"Thanks for coming through for us, guys." Grace nodded. "I'm glad you decided to vote for Luther."

"Well, it wasn't that hard. Luther was the strongest one here." Inferno shrugged.

"Okay. Maybe tomorrow we can decide who we can target next. For now, we'll say that Tokyo can go next." Grace suggested.

"Sounds good. We'll see how things pan out."

Grace and the others walked off. When they did, Carly turned to Inferno. "Are you sure it was a good idea to do that?" She asked.

"What are you talking about?" Inferno asked.

"Remember that Luther and Tokyo found out about our alliance?" Carly asked. "What if Tokyo decides to expose us for voting out Luther?"

"Relax. I've got it covered."

"_I trust Inferno to come up with a way to avoid an exposure of our alliance, but this is serious. I know Tokyo will try and tell everyone else about us." Carly pointed out. "Unfortunately, I have no idea what to do to counter it or how we can avoid it, so I'm just going to have to hope Inferno knows what he's doing."_

The remaining eight players decided to go to bed, knowing that not much else could get done tonight…

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 25)**

"_It feels good to control a vote, especially since I've controlled the last three votes. Of course, the one thing I can't control is that someone else has the Immunity Idol." Grace explained. "I need to find out who has it so I can arrange a blindside that they don't see coming. Since it was gone when I arrived, one of the Roka players has it…"_

"Liz, can we talk?" Grace asked as she approached Liz.

"So NOW you want to talk?" Liz asked as she turned, arms folded. "You've done nothing but ignore me ever since we merged."

"I've been trying to expand the alliance." Grace insisted. "I need to work more on the others."

"Whatever." Liz muttered. "What did you want to say?"

"I need you to find out which Roka player has the Hidden Immunity Idol. You've been here longer so you may have better luck than I would."

"Fine. I'll check things out."

"Thank you." Grace said as she walked off.

"_The first time Grace talks to me about the game since the merge and it's to give me an espionage job. Frankly, I just don't feel up to it." Liz mused. "If she involved me more, then sure, I'd do it no problem. But the fact that she doesn't appear to be interested in keeping me in the loop, I just say 'Screw it' and just carry on myself."_

"What was that about?" Tokyo asked as he approached and watched Grace walk off.

"Grace finally talked to me about the game. She wants me to see which of you Roka players has the Hidden Immunity Idol." Liz said casually.

"Uh…Hidden Immunity Idol?" Tokyo asked. "We all searched the camp top to bottom."

"The idol's apparently gone already." Liz shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah. You know those emblems on the treemail boxes? They're the Hidden Immunity Idols."

Tokyo's eyes widened. "Seriously?" He asked.

"Yep. Grace checked it out the instant she got here, but the idol was already gone."

"And why are you telling me this?" Tokyo asked.

"Because I don't have any intention of actually doing this spy work." Liz shook her head and wandered off.

"_Liz is surprising me. She just TOLD me what Grace was up to, which is good for me. The fact that the emblems are the Hidden Immunity Idols really threw me for a loop, though." Tokyo said before smirking and pulling the green emblem out of his shirt. "Good thing I took it from the treemail box a while ago 'just in case'. I just wish I would have known this was the real idol earlier. I would have given it to Luther for him to use…"_

Grace returned to where Bianca and Edwina were and smirked. "Okay. Liz will keep an eye on the Roka players to see if she can figure out which of them has the idol." She explained.

"You're sure she's on board?" Edwina asked.

"Liz has been in my alliance since we started." Grace assured.

"But…You haven't really been involving her in anything." Edwina noted.

"Yeah. If you didn't say that you were in an alliance with her, I would have guessed that you just met her after we merged." Bianca added.

Grace blinked. "Really?" She asked.

"Liz has been looking pretty mad lately, Grace." Edwina reminded. "I talked to her before the last vote and she said you never told her how the vote was going."

"Because I assumed the votes would be obvious." Grace shrugged.

"_I don't get what the big deal is. Liz should know who to target because that was the original plan from when we were on Malabar." Grace explained. "My plan never changed. I wanted to get rid of Kayo and Mugg and then eliminate the physical threats, and that's what I'm doing."_

"_Grace is digging herself even deeper and she doesn't even realize it. She played smart back on Sa'zan, but now that we've merged, she's assuming too much." Bianca pointed out. "Edwina and I need to try and get her to realize this, but at the moment, Grace just seems determined to play the game she's been planning to play."_

"Hey, girls." The trio turned and saw Tokyo coming over.

"What is it, Tokyo?" Grace asked.

"I just wondered if you wanted to know a little bit of insider information." Tokyo said with a smirk. "While you were gone, Inferno made a side alliance with Carly behind your back."

Grace paused. "Wait. Why are you telling me this?" She asked.

"We tried to get their votes last night and they didn't come through for us." Tokyo replied.

"Why would we trust you, though?" Grace asked.

"Because you don't know about this other alliance. Those two WILL get the better of you if you let them." Tokyo said with a smirk.

"_I said I'd keep the secret alliance a secret if Carly and Inferno voted with me, and they didn't. I don't see a reason to keep their alliance a secret now." Tokyo said. "Up until now, I've been playing the nice guy, but now I think it's time to show that I'm capable of more than a little scheming."_

Bianca looked at Grace as Tokyo walked off. "Do you believe him, Grace?" She asked. "I mean, you obviously know Inferno better than Edwina and I do."

"It's a hard call. If I question Inferno, he'll probably tell me." Grace mused as she wandered off.

"_It's entirely plausible that Inferno could have created a side alliance while Grace wasn't around. I mean, he obviously needed to pick a side when he first arrived, right?" Edwina asked. "I mean, it only makes sense, so while Grace may not believe Tokyo, I think that there may be some truth in what we were told."_

Grace looked around and saw Inferno sitting at the fire pit. She approached him. "Inferno, can I talk to you for a second?" She asked.

"Sure, Grace. What's up?" Inferno asked.

"Tokyo literally just came to us and told us that you were in a secret alliance with Carly." Grace replied. "Is that true?"

Inferno laughed. "Ah, the dude's probably just mad that he lost his ally last night." He replied. "Seriously, Grace. Who's more-likely to tell the truth? The guy who's been aligned with you since the start or the guy that lost his ally to a blindside?"

"Good point. I never really believed it, myself." Grace replied. "I just wanted to make sure."

With that, Grace walked off. After she was gone, Carly emerged from a bush near where Inferno was sitting. "I can't believe that actually worked." She said.

"I told you I had it covered." Inferno assured.

"_You see, because I was aligned with Grace at the start, she won't suspect me if I make sure I bring it up." Inferno pointed out. "She assumes that, just because I joined forces with her when we started, I won't have any spare plans going on the side once she goes to the other tribe."_

Meanwhile, Tokyo had gone over to the treemail box, where Yori was. He was telling her what he told Grace and the other girls.

"So Inferno and Carly are in a secret alliance?" Yori asked.

"Yeah. Luther and I stumbled upon one of their meetings." Tokyo replied.

"And…You're telling me this…Why?"

"Because they didn't vote with us like we were hoping."

"You attempted a little blackmail, right?"

"I guess you can say that."

"_I have to admit that if I came upon an opportunity like the one Tokyo did, then I probably would have done the same thing." Yori admitted. "Opportunities like that don't come up often in Survivor, and when it does, you need to make sure you go for it. This may prove to help me later on in the game…"_

Night eventually came. Knowing that there would be a challenge the following day, the eight remaining players decided to go to bed.

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 26)**

"I'm thinking that we're going to have a Reward Challenge today." Edwina said as she and Bianca walked away from the shelter.

"Yeah? Why?" Bianca asked.

"We haven't had one since we merged. I'd say we're overdue." Edwina replied simply.

"_I find it odd how we've gone five days as a merged tribe and we've had no Reward Challenges. The next challenge HAS to be a Reward." Edwina shook her head. "Not that it would really matter to most, but Reward Challenges are still important. It just comes down to how important they are to some people."_

"So what do you think we should do?" Edwina asked. "I think that if Grace comes up with another idea, we should run it past Liz."

"Because Liz apparently knows Grace better than we do. I know." Bianca nodded. "But Liz probably won't like it if we're just relaying the message to her."

"If she doesn't hear the message at all, she'll just be even madder."

"Also true."

Yori was walking to the treemail box alone. She appeared to be in thought.

"_I need to find ways to save myself as time goes on because it's obvious the Sa'zan girls don't like me." Yori explained. "I need to get the Roka players to vote them out over me if I want to make it to the end, but that's going to be hard work. It's not impossible, but I need to weaken Sa'zan influence on camp…"_

Yori reached into the treemail box and pulled out an envelope. "Time for the next challenge." She mused as she returned to camp. "Treemail came in."

The other seven players approached Yori as she read the contents of the letter. "It's wondering how well we are at playing 'Cupid'." Yori explained.

Liz blinked. "What the heck does THAT mean?" She asked.

"Well, we're about to find out." Inferno replied. "Let's head out."

"I say it's a Reward Challenge." Edwina said, putting a hand up.

"No bet here." Grace shook her head.

**(Reward Challenge)**

The eight remaining players exited the jungle and walked into a clearing. Quickly seeing their tribe's mat on the ground, they all walked over and stepped on to wait for the challenge to begin.

"Welcome to your first Reward Challenge, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will be seeing exactly how accurate you are with a bow and arrow." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a large bullseye target attached to a bale of hay, and eight arrows sitting a good ways away from it. "The goal here is simple: You are each given one arrow and will shoot it at this target one at a time. Whoever hits closest to the middle of the target will win Reward. The Reward today will be a day-long trip to a spa we have on another part of the island."

A few of the contestants look indifferent, but some looked eager to get the challenge going, knowing what was at stake now.

"If you'll all come over here with me, we'll decide shooting order and begin." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

Carly was up first. It looked almost comical because the bow that she was trying to shoot the arrow from was almost as tall as she was.

"Carly is up. Remember to shoot for the middle. You can go when ready." SSBFreak said.

"Okay. Give me a minute." Carly said as she struggled with the bow. She finally managed to get it into a position she could fire, pulled back on the bow and show her arrow at the target. The arrow soared through the air and hit the target, but it only landed in one of the outer rings.

"Not bad. You hit the target, but it wasn't close to the middle." SSBFreak said. "Carly sets the bar."

"This bow was not made for me." Carly shook her head.

Liz was next, and she showed to have a better handle on the bow than Carly did.

"Up next is Liz, hoping to beat Carly's shot." SSBFreak said. "You can go whenever you want."

"Thank you." Liz said as she took aim and fired. The arrow hit the target, but everyone saw that it was about two rings closer to the middle than Carly's.

"Not a bad shot. Liz has overtaken Carly and is the current leader." SSBFreak pointed out.

Tokyo held the bow in his hands and shook his head. Nevertheless, he readied himself to shoot.

"Tokyo is up next and needs to beat Liz's shot to take the lead." SSBFreak said.

Giving a nod, Tokyo took aim and launched his arrow. However, the arrow wasn't as good a shot as Liz's was, or even Carly's. Tokyo's arrow struck the outermost ring.

"It's not good enough. Liz still leads."

"Serves me right for training with a dagger more than a bow and arrow." Tokyo shook his head and walked off.

Bianca stood at the starting line, holding the bow and her arrow. She looked determined.

"Next up is Bianca. Like Tokyo, she needs to beat Liz's shot to take the lead."

Taking this as her cue, Bianca pulled the string of her bow back and fired her arrow at the target. The arrow struck the target about four rings from the center, which still beat out Liz's shot by around two rings.

"Nice shot. Bianca now has the lead."

"That wasn't so hard." Bianca mused as she handed the bow to the next person.

This person was Inferno. The disco fanatic gave a smirk and readied himself.

"Inferno is up next. Bianca's shot is now the one to beat to take the lead."

"Got it." Inferno said as he took aim. After a couple of seconds, he let go of the string and fired the arrow. The arrow soared through the air and hit the target amazingly close to Bianca's shot. However, on closer inspection, people saw that Bianca's shot was just a hair better.

"Close, but not quite. Bianca still has the lead."

Grace was next. She confidently held the bow in her hands and prepared to launch it.

"Up next is Grace. Bianca's shot needs to be beaten to take the lead."

"Fine by me." Grace said as she took aim. After pausing to aim properly, Grace fired her arrow, sticking it in the target. People noticed it was about two and a half rings closer to the middle than anyone else so far.

"Grace has beaten Bianca and has taken the lead."

Edwina held the bow and took a couple of deep breaths as she prepared to fire it at the target.

"Edwina is next. Grace's record is the new high score."

Taking aim, Edwina let go of the string on her bow and sent her arrow flying at the target. The arrow struck the target, but it was nowhere close to matching Grace's score.

"Not good enough. Grace still leads."

"Rub it in, why don't you?" Edwina asked as she left the range.

Yori was the last one to go. She held the bow and gave a smirk.

"Last up is Yori. If she beats Grace's score, she'll win Reward."

Yori took aim and fired. Most people were expecting a great shot, but the arrow landed around the same area as Bianca's shot.

"It's not good enough! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Grace wins Reward!"

"Alright!" Grace cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Grace. For winning this challenge, you will be spending the day at a spa. However, it would be pretty boring to go there by yourself." SSBFreak said. "You can choose one person to go with you, but I'd like to mention an added twist we have to this season."

"Uh…What is it?" Grace asked.

"For every post-merge Reward Challenge this season, the winner will be given an option. They can either choose to share their Reward with someone at camp, or with someone that was voted out pre-merge."

This caught everyone by surprise. "Seriously?" Tokyo asked.

"Yes, but only those options. No one on the jury is to be chosen to take the Reward with the winner." SSBFreak reminded. "That being said, who will you take on Reward, Grace?"

"I'll take Liz with me." Grace replied. Liz nodded and approached her.

"With that, Grace and Liz will be going on their Reward and be reunited with the rest of you at tomorrow's Immunity Challenge." SSBFreak said. "You can all head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Grace won Reward and took Liz with her, but that's not what caught us by surprise. Apparently, we can actually take people that were voted out pre-merge with us if we win." Bianca said. "Man. If I had known that before the challenge, I would have tried harder. Then again, I'm sure several of the others would have as well."_

"So we've got a day without Grace and Liz. What do you think we should focus on?" Bianca asked. "Grace wanted us to target Tokyo."

"We could try talking to Inferno at least." Edwina suggested. "And, although I'm sure you don't like it, we can get Yori to vote with us since she knows she'll be a target otherwise."

"I don't see why we just can't vote off Yori now while we can." Bianca pointed out. "There IS a chance she won't vote with us, you know."

"I know, but Grace says that Yori can't do anything since she doesn't have power." Edwina sighed.

Meanwhile, Yori was walking through camp. She saw Tokyo and wandered over.

"_On any other day, I would have easily decimated an accuracy challenge. However, that would take me away from camp and I need to be here to work." Yori explained. "Yeah, I basically threw the challenge, but I wanted to make sure it didn't look like I was. I plan on doing this for any Reward Challenges that involve leaving camp, focusing only on Immunity Challenges."_

"Tokyo, I think, for now, we should think about targeting Grace." Yori suggested.

"Wait. Wait. Why?" Tokyo demanded.

"You have to admit that she's getting too controlling. She's even getting Liz mad at her." Yori explained. "Liz DID tell you that they were aligned at the start, right?"

"Yeah. Liz mentioned that a couple of times." Tokyo shrugged. "But I still fail to see any real logic in voting out Grace."

"Just keep it in the back of your mind for now, okay?" Yori asked. "We'll just see how the next challenge pans out."

"_So Yori comes up to me with the idea of voting out Grace. I don't think it's a good idea socially, but it may be a good move game-wise." Tokyo mused. "However, I'm not doing anything of the sort without telling Liz about it, and I doubt that she's going to jump on board with voting out her earliest ally."_

**(Spa)**

"This is the life, isn't it?" Grace sighed happily as she relaxed on a beach chair.

"Yeah. It's definitely better than what we've been used to having." Liz nodded as she relaxed on a chair beside Grace.

"_Grace won Reward and she brought me along. I thought it was nice of her because she's been spending more time with Bianca and Edwina lately." Liz noted. "However, now that she and I are alone, maybe I can finally tell her that excluding me from every decision has been kinda hurting me."_

"Grace, we need to talk." Liz said.

"Sure. What is it?" Grace asked.

"I really don't like the fact that you're not telling me what's going on with the votes." Liz pointed out. "Frankly, it's frustrating."

Grace sighed. "Okay. I can see how you may be mad for me not telling you my ideas, but I was just going with my original plan." She said.

"Well, MY plan changed while we were separated, Grace. Mugg and I DID befriend each other." Liz reminded. "He's a lot nicer person than you've been giving him credit for. Just because he was aligned with your mortal enemy didn't make him bad."

"You don't know that for sure." Grace said.

"_Liz is acting too emotionally to this. She was upset that I used the fake idol to eliminate Mugg, but she'll realize that it was to help her in the long run." Grace pointed out. "I know Mugg was trying to get on her good side because he was completely incompetent on his own. I don't see any other way around it."_

"Can't you just accept the fact that you're wrong?" Liz asked.

"I'm not wrong. I couldn't have been." Grace insisted. "Liz, you'll eventually see that I did what I did to help the both of us."

"How is keeping me out of the loop of things helping?" Liz demanded. "I didn't know you were even TARGETING Luther until EDWINA told me!"

"Liz, what's done is done. It's in the past." Grace said. "If it makes any difference, I'll involve you more and tell you what's going to happen so you at least know how the vote will go."

"Fine. Whatever."

"_I thought this Reward would be good for us, but it only seems to have made things worse. Grace was there and she was the only one to talk to, and we still didn't accomplish anything." Liz sighed. "I really thought I could get Grace to realize that she's been wrong, but it's just not happening…"_

Night eventually rolled in. The eight remaining players, no matter where they were, decided to go to bed to prepare for the Immunity Challenge the following day.

**(Kalepa Tribe, Day 27)**

"So what's the plan?" Carly asked. "From what I gathered, Yori is trying to lobby voting out Grace."

"Well, I don't want to do that." Inferno shook his head. "I don't want to vote out Grace or Liz. I say we focus on Yori."

"Because she's the one in charge of the lobbying?"

"Grace told us she isn't to be trusted." Inferno shrugged.

"In my opinion, I'm not sure if getting rid of Yori is a good idea yet. I mean, if she's as disliked by the others as Grace says she is, wouldn't it make sense to take her further?" Carly asked. "I think Inferno is more against voting out Grace and Liz because he's their friend."

"Yeah, I don't really want to vote the girls out. I mean, they were both my earliest allies, so I want to do what I can to keep them around." Inferno pointed out. "If Yori wants to vote out Grace, then I may have to start lobbying to vote her out instead."

Meanwhile, Bianca and Edwina were at the fire pit, talking.

"Okay. Depending on the challenge, we're going to try and make sure Tokyo doesn't win it." Edwina suggested. "If we want to get rid of the physical threats, we need to keep them from winning."

"Yeah, but it'll only depend on what type of challenge it is." Bianca replied. "There are a lot of challenges where we won't be allowed to interfere."

"I know. We'll just have to hope for the right challenge."

"_If we want to eliminate the physical threats, they can't win Immunity. However, there are few challenges where we would be allowed to prevent them from doing so." Bianca said. "We know we can't beat them in the strength department, but maybe the rules of some challenges will allow us to hinder their progress. We can only hope, anyway."_

"_I'd have a hard time winning Immunity Challenges as it is. The only reason I won the last one was because it was a trivia challenge about Survivor." Edwina said. "If the physical threats win all of the challenges, the rest of us will get picked off."_

"We've got treemail, guys." Tokyo announced as he came into camp. "Looks like it's time for the Immunity Challenge."

"Alright! What's it say?" Edwina asked.

"It's wondering how good we are at targeting other people." Tokyo replied.

"That sounds familiar. I can't place it." Inferno noted.

"I know. I've heard that question somewhere before…"

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Kalepa Tribe emerged from the jungle and walked out into another clearing. Seeing their mat, the six players walked over and stepped on.

"Before we start, let's bring out Grace and Liz, who are returning from their Reward." SSBFreak said.

Grace and Liz approached from the side. The two girls joined the rest of the tribe and everyone waited for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will be testing your accuracy as well as your luck in a return challenge from last season." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a large board covered with pictures of the contestants in the game, but noticed that a lot of pictures were ones of contestants already voted out. "When I give the word, you will all throw a stone at this big board at the same time with the intent on breaking other people's pictures. You each have three pictures, and if all of yours are broken, you're out. In addition, there are three pictures for each of the players already voted out, so any stone that breaks one of their pictures will be a wasted stone. The person with at least one picture remaining at the end will win Immunity and be safe from tonight's Tribal Council."

Everyone looked at each other, knowing that Immunity was coming down to, once again, a game of chance.

"If you'll all take your positions, we can begin."

**(Later…)**

The eight players stood in a horizontal line in front of the large board, staring down the many pictures attached to it.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The eight players threw their first rocks. A picture was broken by each rock, but a number of the stones hit pictures that didn't count.

"Okay. Tokyo, Liz and Bianca each got hit once. They are down to two pictures." SSBFreak noted. "Uh…Bianca, did you MEAN to throw the rock at one of Det's pictures since there wasn't any that would have counted around it?"

"I had to get it out of my system." Bianca replied.

"Okay. Second throw…" SSBFreak said as everyone got ready. "Go!"

Once again, the rocks flew at the pictures. All eight rocks hit a picture, but like before, most of the pictures hit didn't count.

"Yori, Grace and Inferno get their first hit, while Tokyo gets his second."

"This isn't good." Tokyo muttered.

"Hey. You hit Renaldo's picture last time." Edwina said with a smirk. "It's the least I could do."

"Time to throw again…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The eight players hurled their rocks at the board, once again striking pictures with each projectile.

"Liz gets her second hit and Edwina gets her first. Tokyo got his third hit and he's out, but Yori got two hits, so she's out as well." SSBFreak said.

"That was some serious double-teaming." Tokyo shook his head as he and Yori left the field.

"Here's where we stand. Liz has two strikes, while Bianca, Grace, Edwina and Inferno have one. Carly is yet to be hit." SSBFreak announced. "Prepare to throw…Go!"

The remaining six players threw their stones at the pictures. A couple of the pictures were already broken, and only a couple of pictures that counted were hit at all.

"Okay. Carly got her first hit and Edwina got her second. Everyone else hit a picture that didn't count."

The remaining players knew things would be close and prepared for the next round.

"Get ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The six players threw their rocks at the pictures. Some went through already-broken pictures, but a couple of throws landed.

"Liz gets her last hit and is out. Bianca got her second hit." SSBFreak said.

"So much for that." Liz said as she left the field.

"Get ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The remaining five players threw rocks at the pictures. Unlike previous rounds, most of stones managed to hit a picture that counted.

"Edwina gets her third hit and she's out, while Carly gets two and she's out as well. Inferno, in the meantime, gets his second hit." SSBFreak said.

"That didn't go as well as I thought it would." Carly shook her head.

"Here's where we stand. Grace still has two pictures while Bianca and Inferno have one." SSBFreak announced. "Get ready…Go!"

The remaining three players threw their rocks at the pictures. One of the rocks went through an already-broken space, but the other two rocks managed to hit targets that counted.

"Bianca got her third hit and she's out, but Grace got her second hit, meaning that she and Inferno each have one picture left." SSBFreak said.

"Well, I lasted a while." Bianca shrugged as she walked off.

"Get ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

Grace and Inferno each threw a rock at the remaining pictures. One rock managed to hit its target while the other soared through a pre-broken picture.

"That's it! Grace just lost her last picture! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Inferno wins Immunity!"

Inferno cheered loudly as Grace and Liz clapped for him. The others looked pretty indifferent, but Tokyo looked worried.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Inferno. You have a one-in-seven chance at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed the Immunity Necklace to Inferno.

"It took me three challenges, but I finally got it." Inferno said with a smirk.

The host looked at the remaining players. "Inferno is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council, where you will be voting someone else out of the game. By now, since things are getting down to the wire, I imagine that the choices will get harder. I'll give you the rest of the day to make your decisions, but for now, you can head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Inferno won Immunity, which is good for him because it means he won't be targeted. Now we can vote Tokyo out." Grace said. "The two of them together are the strongest players left, so we should take Tokyo out now before he has a chance to win any future challenges. I have Edwina, Bianca and Liz, and I'm sure I can get Inferno's vote."_

"Okay. We have four votes locked for Tokyo, and I imagine Inferno will have no problem voting with us." Grace noted.

"Uh…I don't see Liz around. Did you tell her what we're doing?" Edwina asked.

"Yeah. I told her at the Reward."

"And she's okay with it?"

"She didn't have any objections, if that's what you mean."

Meanwhile, Tokyo approached Yori, whom was talking to Carly.

"Yori." Tokyo greeted. "I'd like to take you up on your offer for now, but only because I know I don't have any other choice."

"So you'll vote for Grace?" Yori asked.

"Yes, but like I said, I don't have a lot of choice." Tokyo folded his arms.

"_I told myself I wouldn't be swayed by Yori's talk, but when the odds are stacked against you, you kinda have to do what you can to stay alive." Tokyo explained. "Yori wants to take out Grace and, while I can see her logic, I'd be pushing to vote out Inferno if he didn't have Immunity."_

"_I know I'm likely a target, but I want to make sure I take out the Sa'zan girls because I know they won't want to make any deals with me." Yori pointed out. "I consider Grace the most-threatening of the three and the most-capable leader, so I need to take her out first."_

"So I take it you're wanting to vote out Grace as well, Carly?" Tokyo asked.

"Strategy-wise, it's a good move." Carly nodded. "However, Inferno's got his heart set on voting for Yori."

"What about the girls?" Yori asked.

"I think they're voting for Tokyo."

"Well…We'd still need one more vote." Tokyo supplied.

"Maybe I can help you."

The three turned to see a new figure approaching.

"_Maybe this will work. I just hope Inferno doesn't mind me not voting with him…" Carly noted._

**(Tribal Council)**

The eight remaining players entered Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Finding their places on the stumps, everyone sat down to wait for Tribal Council to commence.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of our jury." SSBFreak said. "Mugg and Luther, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Everyone watched as Mugg and Luther walked into Tribal Council. Luther was still hearing his executioner hood, but he had changed the rest of his outfit to look like a black and white version of the Castle Crashers uniforms. The two jury members sat down on the jury bench.

"These two are only here to observe the outcome of Tribal Council. You will not address them and they won't address you." SSBFreak said as he started asking questions. "Tokyo, your earliest ally was voted out of the game last time you were here. How did that affect you?"

"Come on. Luther and I were pretty much partners from the start. It's always hard to see an ally go down like that, but on the upside, at least it wasn't a unanimous vote like most would assume it to be." Tokyo said.

"He has a point." Luther shrugged.

"Bianca, what seems to be the general strategy for the group at the moment?" SSBFreak asked.

"Right now, it appears that we're just trying to get rid of the physical threats. If we keep them in the game, they'll demolish us in the challenges and take us all out." Bianca replied. "If one of us wants to win, we need to take out the physical threats first."

"Is that why we were taken out first?" Mugg asked.

"Maybe, but I sense an ulterior motive." Luther mused.

"Grace, are there any people outside of the group that has this strategy?" SSBFreak asked.

"Well, Tokyo and Yori are for sure, and I don't know about Carly." Grace replied. "I think the rest of us are in the same boat, though."

Liz rolled her eyes. "You have something to say, Liz?" SSBFreak asked.

"Yeah. When exactly did this 'strategy' get discussed? I don't recall ever being told about it." Liz told Grace. "I told you at the Reward that I wanted to be included in decisions, Grace!"

"You are. I just thought that was what the most-obvious strategy was." Grace pointed out.

"This is Survivor! There IS no obvious strategy!"

"Someone's angry." Luther shook her head.

"I'm almost glad I'm not in the game anymore." Mugg added.

"Carly, it appears there seems to be some tension on the tribe. Where do you stand on this since you aren't familiar with either of those two girls?" SSBFreak asked.

"Well, I know that the key part of having an alliance is to make sure you don't leave out any partners." Carly pointed out. "I don't know much about either of the two, but from what I've seen and heard, I think I side with Liz."

"Well, I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "However, before I proceed, I have to ask this: Inferno, you have Immunity. Are you keeping it?"

"You got it."

"Inferno is safe and can't be voted out. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Liz, you're up."

Liz nodded and walked out of the hut to go vote. She quickly wrote a name down on the ballot and placed it into the urn.

Carly walked up to the table and scribbled a name down. Placing the vote into the jar, Carly left the table.

Grace wrote a name down and turned it around to show the camera. "You're the biggest physical threat. Consider it a compliment." She said, having voted for Tokyo.

Yori wrote a name down and double-checked it. "This is going to be good regardless." She said as she voted and left the table.

Inferno approached the table and quickly wrote a name down. He gave a nod and placed the vote into the urn.

Edwina quickly scribbled a name down, hoping the others wouldn't be able to guess what she was writing. She voted and quickly left the table.

Tokyo quickly voted and showed his ballot to the camera, revealing Grace's name. "I want to save my idol. Hopefully, I won't need it." He said.

Bianca, the last to vote, approached the table and wrote a name down. She wasted no time in placing her ballot into the urn.

After everyone voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said, pausing a moment. Tokyo bit his lip, but decided against playing the idol. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Tokyo." Tokyo continued to bite his lip.

"Tokyo." Tokyo wondered if he should have played his idol.

"Yori." Yori remained silent.

"…Grace." Grace's eyebrow lifted in surprise.

"Grace." Grace was starting to look a little worried.

"Grace. She now leads." Yori couldn't help but smirk.

"…Tokyo. We are tied." The entire Tribal Council was silent in anticipation, wondering how the vote had gone. "Last vote, third member of the jury and eleventh person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Grace. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Grace was stunned, wondering what had just happened. "But…But I had the numbers…" She said. Regardless, she still picked up her torch and brought it to the host.

"Grace, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Grace's torch. "It's time for you to go."

Grace sighed. "Fine." She said as she left Tribal Council.

Once Grace was gone, SSBFreak turned to look at the remaining players. "Another Tribal Council ends and yet another blindside occurs. Grace obviously didn't see that coming." He said. "The end is fast approaching and there are only seven of you left. By now, you should probably start thinking of who you want to take to the end, because you may not get another chance. You can all head back to camp."

The seven remaining players stood up, grabbed their torches and left Tribal Council. Liz brought up the rear, looking guilty. She really didn't want to do that to Grace, but after spending so long being excluded from everything, she figured that it was time to make a move. She was just sorry that Grace had to pay for it…

"_I'm shocked that I was even a target, let alone one to get four votes when I thought I had a majority." Grace said, still surprised. "Someone in my alliance obviously voted for me, but I don't know who. Hopefully, I'll be able to figure things out as the days go by. Good luck to my alliance, because you'll all be needing it."_

**Voting History:**

**Grace – Carly, Liz, Tokyo and Yori**

**Tokyo – Bianca, Edwina and Grace**

**Yori – Inferno**

Author's Note: I wanted Grace to be an early winner pick when we started. She knew what she was doing and she was a major character when the tribes dissolved. However, I wanted her to crash and burn after the merge, and I figured that isolating her oldest ally would be the perfect way to do it.


	12. Days 28 to 30

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Grace got eliminated, and considering Tokyo only got three votes, we can only assume that the fourth vote for Grace came from Liz." Bianca pointed out. "While this tells me that maybe they weren't as close as Grace said they were, it could also mean that Liz was just fed up with how she was being treated."_

"Well, now what? It's just the two of us." Edwina pointed out.

"We can still do this, but we're going to need some more numbers." Bianca said. "If we can get two people to join us, we'll have the majority."

"We can try Inferno for starters." Edwina suggested.

"Good idea. You know where he is?"

"I think he's over there with Liz…"

Inferno was indeed talking to Liz, but the conversation wasn't exactly pleasant.

"Liz, why would you vote off Grace like that?" Inferno asked. "The three of us were allies!"

"Inferno, things change. Grace refused to include me in any decisions and I lost another ally because she didn't tell me what she was doing." Liz replied. "I tried getting through to her on the Reward, but I couldn't."

"So you just voted her out, then?"

"She practically forced me out of the alliance to begin with."

"_I didn't want to do it, but I had to. Grace was isolating me more and more every day and I just couldn't take it anymore." Liz said. "She needed to see me as a partner in the alliance and not like a sidekick. I don't know what I'll be doing now that Grace is gone, but I'm sure whatever I do I'll end up in a better position than if I stayed with Grace."_

"_Liz voted out Grace, her earliest ally in the game. Her logic still escapes me, even though I can see what she's thinking." Inferno pointed out. "If I was in her shoes, I'd be dropping suggestions to Grace so she would pick them up instead of just telling her outright that she's wrong. She would just get ignored again."_

The tribe of seven decided to go to bed. Some would get answers in the morning, but they figured that they wouldn't get anywhere tonight…

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 28)**

"_I made a BIG gamble by not playing my idol last night, and it paid off. I'm still here and people still don't think I have it." Tokyo admitted. "I put a lot of trust into the possibility of having enough votes to survive, and now that I'm still here, I can work on a few ideas to keep myself around."_

Tokyo saw Liz fishing down at the shore and walked over. "Hey, Liz. Can I talk to you for a second?" He asked.

"Yeah?"

"Look, I'm sorry about Grace, but thanks for approaching us and helping us back there." Tokyo replied.

Liz sighed. "I wish I didn't have to do that, but I didn't think I had much of a choice with the way things were going." She admitted.

"Well, now that we're both without our allies, how about we team up?" Tokyo asked.

Liz paused. "You want to form an alliance?" She repeated.

"Like I said, we ARE missing our allies."

"_Tokyo approached me and asked if I wanted to join an alliance with him. Maybe it wouldn't hurt, since I don't think Bianca and Edwina would want me on their side since I voted out Grace." Liz reasoned. "Tokyo may be my best option since Inferno may still be cross at me."_

In the meantime, Inferno was talking to Carly by the side of the shelter.

"Carly, why'd you vote for Grace?" Inferno asked. "I thought we were going to vote for Yori."

"Yeah, but no one else was going to vote for her. That would have left our two votes against three for the others." Carly replied. "I think Grace was a bigger threat than Tokyo."

"Seriously? Tokyo's as strong as I am!"

"But Grace has been playing the game better."

"_I didn't want to tell Inferno that I got the idea for voting out Grace from Yori. He'd probably get even angrier if he found out." Carly said sheepishly. "That being said, I think Grace would have been a bigger jury threat anyway, especially since she had at least three allies in the game when she left."_

"_I'm more disappointed than anything. I was really hoping I could take all of my allies further into the game, but I guess I didn't count on them turning on each other." Inferno reasoned. "Still, Liz is around, so maybe she'll be willing to join Carly and I on this separate alliance. I'll have to check with her…"_

Yori sat aside by herself, thinking about the game, as usual. With everything that was going, on, maybe slipping through the cracks would be easier than she thought.

"If I can convince the others to vote for someone else, maybe I'll be able to get even further…" Yori pondered. "The idol's gone, but maybe I don't need it…"

"_Seeing everything that's been going on lately has made me realize that I may be in better control of the game than I thought." Yori said. "If I can convince the Roka players to eliminate the rest of the Sa'zan girls, I should then be able to get them to turn on each other. If I can make the finals, people will see that I've been playing the better game."_

Yori looked around the camp and set her sights on Tokyo. Figuring it would be best to start with him, she got up and walked over.

"Tokyo, I was wondering if we could talk." Yori said.

"About what?" Tokyo asked.

"Just think. We're down to the final seven and there are still some alliances left." Yori explained. "I think we should focus on the alliances and take them out before we reach the end."

"Okay. Let's say I went along with what you're saying." Tokyo replied. "What are you thinking of?"

"We already eliminated Grace. We need to eliminate Bianca and Edwina before we get to the end or we won't be able to get their votes."

"And you think it's best to eliminate the two of them before the much-stronger Inferno?" Tokyo quizzed.

"Like I said, we already started by eliminating Grace. We may as well finish."

"_I knew I'd have an easier time with Tokyo since he had no prior relationships with the girls, while Inferno and Liz obviously have connections with Grace." Yori explained. "I'll try talking to Carly next, but now that I've planted some ideas in Tokyo's head, I can leave him to think things over and make a decision."_

"_Yori makes a good argument, even though it's obvious she's trying to play me. I understand she's trying to keep herself in the game, but she'll take things too far is she doesn't watch herself." Tokyo pointed out. "Still, this late in the game, we need to decide which people are jury threats. Sometimes, the stronger people are the best people to take to the end…"_

Meanwhile, Edwina and Bianca were off talking, not liking their situation.

"This isn't good. We're down to two and it's against everyone else." Edwina shook her head.

"Don't say that yet. We still may have Inferno with us and we may be able to get Carly as well." Bianca explained.

"There's also the question of the Immunity Idol that's missing." Edwina pointed out.

"Yeah. We need to find out who has it."

"_With Grace gone, Edwina and I need to press on and try to control the game the rest of the way." Bianca said. "However, we need more numbers to do that, and with the way things are going, I'm not liking our chances. We need to talk to as many potential swing votes as we can and select a target they can all agree on."_

"_We can pretty much exclude Liz from having the idol since we know she would have told Grace when she found out." Edwina said. "We know Yori doesn't have it, so that leaves Carly, Inferno and Tokyo. If we're going to find the idol, we need to do things without them noticing."_

"So what do you think we should do?" Edwina asked. "Who do you think we should pitch as a target to Inferno and Carly?"

"Let's try Yori." Bianca suggested. "Inferno voted for her last night, so if we come to him with the proposal to vote her off for real, he may join us easily."

"Makes sense. We may as well give it a shot."

The two girls walked over to the shelter, where the two castaways in question were still talking.

"Guys, we'd like to propose something." Bianca said.

"Like what?" Inferno asked.

"We'd like to vote out Yori. I think she's who put the idea to vote out Grace in the heads of the others." Bianca explained. As she was, Edwina appeared to be looking over the two secret alliance members.

"That's what I tried to do." Inferno sighed. "You guys were just so intent on voting out Tokyo, though."

"We thought he'd be better because he was stronger."

"And you're okay with voting for Yori now?"

Bianca groaned. "Look, we've made mistakes. Edwina and I want to get further into the game, but we can't do that with Yori giving the others ideas." She replied.

"Okay. Just so we know we're on the same page." Inferno said with a smirk.

"_Something tells me Inferno enjoyed doing that. It kinda makes me wish I started the game on his tribe so I would be able to read him better." Bianca shook her head. "That being said, I think we can trust him to vote with us come Tribal Council, but we just need to hope we can convince others as well."_

As the girls were walking away, Edwina looked at Bianca. "I think Inferno may have the idol." She said.

"What makes you say that?"

"I was hard concealing the Sa'zan idol when Renaldo and I found it." Edwina replied. "Out of the three possibilities, Inferno has the baggiest clothing. He'd easily be able to hide the idol if he found it."

"We'll have to assume he has it until proven otherwise, then."

After the girls were gone, Carly looked at Inferno. "You like the lay the guilt trip on heavy, don't you?" She asked.

"I do what I can." Inferno replied with a smirk before looking at Carly. "But please, Carly. We need you to vote with us. I don't want you being swayed by Yori again."

"I'm with you." Carly insisted.

"_I know Inferno is mad at me for not voting with him, but I still find his logic in his votes a little flawed." Carly said with a shrug. "Frankly, I don't think Yori has any chance at winning, so why not keep her? I think it's more of a personal thing for Inferno to be voting like this, but I just don't want to tell him that."_

Night eventually came in and the remaining seven players went to sleep, knowing there was a challenge the following day.

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 29)**

"_Day 29. Ten days left in the competition. I can't believe I've actually made it this far. I can totally go all the way if I really tried." Edwina said with a smile. "I need to pick up my game here, and to do that, I need to keep my eyes open and on everyone else here to make sure I don't miss anything."_

"You think we should go after Inferno if he has the idol?" Edwina suggested. "If he doesn't see it coming, he won't play it."

"I know, but we need to make sure he has it." Bianca added. "If he has the idol and suspects us, he'll play it and destroy the plan, probably eliminating one of us at the same time."

"But the problem is that he'll KNOW he's a target if he doesn't have Immunity." Edwina mused. "He's gotta be the strongest one left, right?"

"Right. He seems intent on voting for Yori, so we may be able to pull it off."

"_We want the vote to got Inferno's way so he can let his guard down. If we help him vote out Yori, we might be able to pick him off next." Bianca pointed out. "If he has the idol, we want to take him out before he can use it, and we may get the chance if he's feeling confident after a successful vote."_

Meanwhile, Inferno and Carly were walking towards the treemail box with the intent to check it.

"I don't know if your little talk to the girls will be enough to keep them on board with voting with you, Inferno." Carly warned. "I know they came to us, but I don't know if it'll stay that way."

"I know. We need to find that idol just in case they decide to flip." Inferno nodded.

"What if they've already found it? We can't exactly make another fake one." Carly said.

"_Bianca and Edwina probably know what the real idols look like, so trying to fool them with a fake one is likely out of the question." Carly said. "It'll be another nail in the coffin if they've already found the real one. We just need to hope this works out or else we'll be paying for it later."_

Inferno reached into the treemail box and found a letter. "Looks like the next challenge is upon us." He said.

"Hopefully, we'll get some answers after it." Carly nodded.

The two returned to camp (separately to avoid suspicion) and Inferno gathered everyone around. "Treemail's here, people." He said.

"I'm guessing it's another Reward Challenge." Liz said.

"It just asks if we're any good at reading our fellow finalists." Inferno said. "Sounds like a trivia challenge."

"_The good thing with trivia challenges is that it doesn't play to anyone's strengths unless they're super-smart." Liz said. "So long as it isn't a strength challenge, we know that Inferno, Tokyo and Yori won't dominate, so that means any of us can win. The only question is if the challenge is for a Reward or Immunity…"_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The seven remaining players emerged from the jungle and onto another clearing. Seeing the tribe mat on the ground, they walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will be seeing how closely you think with the other people on your tribe." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a long desk sitting aside with multiple dividers in it. "I will ask you a series of question about the players still in the game and give you two possible answers. There aren't any correct or incorrect answers, but the majority answer will be accepted and everyone that chooses a minority answer will be eliminated. The last person standing will win Reward, which is a trip to a tropical location on the island."

The seven players looked at each other, knowing that a decent vacation was at stake.

"If you'll all take your positions, we can start."

**(Later…)**

The seven players each stood at a booth along the desk, dividers separating each of them. They each had access to a tablet which they were to write on.

"Okay, for Reward, here's the first question." SSBFreak said. "Who is stronger? Inferno or Tokyo?"

The players wrote letters down and showed them to the host. Tokyo and Yori were holding up B's while everyone else was holding up A's.

"Inferno is the majority answer. Tokyo and Yori are out."

"You actually think I'm stronger than him?" A surprised Tokyo asked Yori as the two left the table. He didn't get an answer.

"Here is the second question." SSBFreak continued. "Who is LESS likely to survive in the wild? Liz or Edwina?"

The remaining five players quickly wrote their answers down and showed them, revealing Edwina to be the only one holding up an A.

"Edwina is the most-popular answer and Edwina is also the only one out."

"You guys forget about my notebook?" Edwina asked as she left the field.

This left Bianca, Carly, Inferno and Liz. "Time for the next question." SSBFreak said. "Who would you rather have lead you when in danger? Bianca or Inferno?"

The four players quickly answered and held up their cards. Surprisingly, Inferno was the most-popular answer. Even more-surprisingly, Inferno was the only one to guess Bianca.

"Inferno is the majority answer." SSBFreak said. "Inferno is out."

"The one time I go noble…" Inferno shook his head as he left.

"Here is your next question, girls." SSBFreak said. "Should one of them win, who is more-likely to spend the prize money better? Carly or Liz?"

The three girls paused in thought for a few moments before choosing their answers and showing them. Carly and Liz had obviously voted for themselves, but Bianca was holding up a B.

"Liz is the majority answer and Carly is out." SSBFreak said.

"So close." Carly moaned as she left the field.

"We're down to Bianca and Liz, so let's start the final question. It is a numerical question and your goal is to write down your guessed number to the question. Whoever gets closest to the actual amount without going over will win Reward." SSBFreak said. "Here's your question: How many votes have been cast in total this season?"

The two girls paused and tried to count the number in their head, trying to come up with the right answer. It took a little bit, but the girls wrote down their answers and showed them to the host. Bianca was showing a 75 and Liz was holding a 70.

"The correct answer is 75 and Bianca got it right on! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Bianca wins Reward!"

Bianca exhaled in relief. "I was thinking I miss-guessed there…" She said.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Bianca. You will be going to the tropical location for the day and meet up with everyone tomorrow." SSBFreak said. "Now, as before, you are given the option to take someone from camp or spend the reward with someone that was voted out pre-merge."

Bianca nodded. "I think…I'd like to spend the reward with Fleecy." She said.

SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "Very well. Bianca will be going off on the Reward and meeting up with the rest of you at the Immunity Challenge tomorrow." He explained. "You can all head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Bianca won Reward and decided to spend it with her friend from the pre-merge days. This means that Edwina's still around to keep an eye on things." Yori mused. "I have a day to do as much work as I can, and I need to make sure Edwina can't get through to the others after I do."_

"Have you guys wondered why Bianca decided to take the Reward with someone else other than Edwina?" Yori asked Inferno and Carly.

"She likely was better friends with the person she chose, otherwise Edwina would have gone." Carly gave a shrug. "I don't really see any other way around it."

"I do. I think she purposefully left Edwina to keep an eye on things and make sure things go according to how she wants." Yori replied.

Inferno lifted an eyebrow behind his shades. "Bianca doesn't look like one to do that." He pointed out. "She was in Grace's alliance, not the other way around."

"Actually, that's not true." Yori said. "Grace actually joined BIANCA after deserting me. Bianca's the real leader even though Grace was more vocal about things."

"_Yori's pretty persistent with her talks. She seems intent on getting us to vote the way she wants, but I don't want to fall for it." Inferno pointed out. "If I end up voting out the person Yori wants, it's under my own accord and not hers. Then again, it makes me wonder if that type of gameplay is why she's still in the game…"_

As Yori walked off, Carly looked at Inferno. "You think she was telling the truth?" She asked.

"Carly, don't tell me you're actually falling for that." Inferno said.

"But it makes sense!" Carly insisted. "Grace was clearly the most-vocal member out of the three! She may have been the third-wheel to the alliance to begin with!"

"I agree that it would normally make sense, but Yori doesn't appear to be the truthful type."

"How would you know for sure? She spent half the competition at another camp!"

"_I hate arguing with Inferno, but he's only seeing things his way. There's this thought in the back of my head that's telling me Yori's right about Bianca being the leader of the alliance." Carly said. "I mean, Grace LOOKED like she was the leader, but the alliance stayed together after she was eliminated…"_

**(Tropical Location)**

"_I won Reward and I decided to spend it with Fleecy, my friend from the pre-merge days. I know Edwina is probably a little upset that I didn't take her, but I think she'll understand." Bianca said. "I've just been curious as to what's been happening outside the game and I figured Fleecy could give me some tips if I told her my situation."_

"Fleecy?" Bianca called out as she stepped onto the sandy beach at the tropical location. "Fleecy, are you here?"

"I'm glad to see you're still in the game, Bianca."

Bianca turned and saw a familiar Woolie coming over with a smile. Bianca quickly hugged her. "It's good to see you again, Fleecy." She said. "The game's been rough without you, but I've been managing."

"You form a new alliance?"

"With Edwina and Grace. It happened almost right after Renaldo got eliminated."

"Yeah. He showed up at the Losers Lodge looking pretty messed up. What the heck happened?"

"He said that he tripped and fell on a rock or something."

"_Bianca's doing well. She made it to the final seven and managed to put together another alliance after I left." Fleecy said. "I honestly thought Bianca would be next after I got eliminated, but that clearly wasn't the case, as Renaldo told us after his wounds healed enough."_

"How are things like at the lodge?" Bianca asked.

"Not bad. I've been getting along with Claire, but Det still seems convinced that he was right about you." Fleecy 'shrugged'. "What about the game? How are things now?"

"Grace just got eliminated, so it's just Edwina and I." Bianca replied. "We don't have the idol and we're afraid to make a fake one for the risk of the person with the real idol calling us out."

"Is Yori still in the game?"

"Yeah. She keeps trying to plant ideas in people's head. It seems to be working, or Grace wouldn't have gotten axed."

"Are there any swing votes?"

"Oh, yeah. Edwina and I have been trying to get their votes for a bit, now."

"I'm afraid the only thing you can do is make a convincing argument. Try and vote for the people the swing votes want to vote for." Fleecy suggested. "That will help get on people's good sides faster."

"Thanks. I've been doing that, but now that I've got a second opinion, I feel a lot better."

"_I felt good to know that Fleecy and I are still on the same page when it comes to gameplay. I hope that Edwina makes some progress while I'm gone, but I'll find out tomorrow." Bianca said. "For now, Fleecy and I can enjoy this little vacation away from the camp. The spot's nice, so I hope it's possible to come back on future Rewards."_

"_Yori is the potential wrench in Bianca's plan. Yori was able to eliminate me, then survive to the merge and keep falling between the cracks of the other alliances." Fleecy said. "That could be dangerous, and what makes it worse is that she's sneakier than the others say she is. They SAY they aren't falling for her words, but they are…"_

Night rolled in for everyone. Deciding to go to bed, everyone got to sleep to prepare for tomorrow's Immunity Challenge…

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 30)**

"I know Yori's been talking to you, Liz." Edwina said. "She got you to vote out your friend."

"That wasn't her, Edwina. I decided to do that myself." Liz replied.

"_While Bianca is away, I'm trying to get the others to go against Yori, since she'll probably get the others to vote off who she wants if she isn't taken out." Edwina explained. "I thought Liz would be the best person to go to first because she was the one that helped vote out Grace. If I can convince her that Yori's the better target, she may join us."_

"Just think about it, Liz. If Yori stays, she'll get the better of everyone here." Edwina pointed out.

"Edwina, think about this: Who here would actually VOTE for Yori if she made it to the end?" Liz quizzed.

"Uh…No one?"

"Exactly."

"_I know Yori may not be the most-likable person here, but that's why Tokyo and I want to keep her around." Liz said with a smirk. "If we can take her to the end, then whoever's in the finals with her will practically be handed the million dollars. Now all we need to do is figure out how to get to that point."_

As Edwina walked off, Tokyo came over. "She's still trying?" He asked.

"Yeah…You sure this is the best thing to do?" Liz asked.

"It's not the best thing, but it's the smartest thing." Tokyo replied.

"But say we get her to the end. Would people vote for either of US?"

"They'll vote for us over Yori. I know that." Tokyo assured with a smirk.

"_At the final seven, you want to focus on jury threats instead of physical threats or the people that would make life at camp better." Tokyo said. "However, if we wanted to do that, we need numbers, which is one of the reasons we're sparing Yori. She'll vote with us, or at least we hope so…"_

"We've got treemail, guys." Carly said as she came into camp with a letter. Everyone else gathered around.

"Time for Immunity." Tokyo said. "What's it say?"

"It's wondering how good we are at holding things up."

"Sounds like a strength-based challenge." Liz moaned. "Great."

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Kalepa Tribe emerged from the jungle and walked onto another clearing. They spotted their tribe mat on the ground nearby and walked over to it, stepping on.

"Before we begin, let's bring out Bianca, who is returning from her Reward." SSBFreak said.

The others watched as Bianca walked in from the side. She joined the others on the mat as they waited for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will test your endurance as a solo person rather than a team." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw seven stations, each connected to a large barrel overhead. "You will each hold onto a rope connected to a barrel of water over your station. If you move too much, the barrel will tip over. The goal is simple: To last longer than the others. If your barrel tips, you're out. Simple as that. The last person remaining will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

The seven players looked at each other, some a little more comfortable than the others.

"If you'll all take your positions, we can start."

**(Later…)**

The seven players stood in a horizontal line, each holding up the barrel by holding onto the rope attached to it. No one looked especially uncomfortable yet.

"The challenge has now started and you're all holding onto your ropes. Remember that the goal here is simply to outlast the others." SSBFreak said. "Inferno, how comfortable are you?"

"This is my challenge, man." Inferno assured. "I'm all over this."

"Tokyo, what do you have to say about that?"

"Bring it. Inferno knows I'm just as strong as he is." Tokyo said, eyes narrowed.

"Yeah. I'm just stronger, though." Inferno taunted.

"I'd like to test that, pal!"

"Edwina, how well do you think you'll be faring in this challenge?" SSBFreak asked.

"Not good. My endurance is nowhere near the level of the others. It's only a matter of time before I drop out." Edwina shook her head.

"What's stopping you now, then?"

"The possibility that the strong guys may slip up and drop early." Edwina replied.

"I'll come back to you guys later and check on your endurance." SSBFreak said.

The group of seven managed to hold on for a while, no one dropping out. They all managed to last until the host decided to ask some more questions.

"You've been holding up those barrels for ten minutes and no one's dropped out, but I'm sure some of you are starting to feel a bit of strain on your arms." SSBFreak said. "Bianca, what's going through your mind right now?"

"Nothing. I'm just focusing on holding up this stupid barrel!" Bianca grunted.

SSBFreak blinked. "Edwina, same question." He said.

"And you're getting the same answer!" Edwina shot back.

Again, SSBFreak blinked. "Carly, how are you holding up?" He asked.

"Not good. We've only just started and I'm already starting to feel my arms giving out." Carly muttered. "I'm only still in it because of being stubborn."

Seeing that no one was going to drop out, SSBFreak decided to wait it out to see how long it would take for someone to drop.

The seven players remained in the game until the next round of questions. Some players were starting to look uncomfortable, but others were struggling to hold onto the rope.

"You've all been holding up for twenty minutes now. I'm actually surprised no one's dropped out, yet." SSBFreak said. "Inferno, how are you holding up?"

"Just fine, thanks." Inferno said with a smirk. "I can do this all day."

"You're sounding pretty confident. You keep forgetting that I'm still here." Tokyo countered.

"I guess we'll just have to wait it out, then."

"Liz, what's your strategy for the game here?" SSBFreak asked.

"Basically, just try to ignore the numbness in my arms. I'm sure that's how challenges like these are usually won." Liz replied. "I just hope that I can last long enough to beat Inferno and Tokyo."

Yori gave a smirk and SSBFreak noticed. "You have something on your mind, Yori?" He asked.

"Everyone's just saying how the challenge could be between Inferno and Tokyo, but they're overlooking me." Yori explained. "I'm just as strong as the guys are and can endure just as much, but the others don't realize that."

Suddenly, Carly let go of her rope. A few seconds later and Edwina followed. Both girls got covered in water.

"Carly and Edwina are both out! That brings us down to five!" SSBFreak said.

"It felt like I was holding up my own body weight at the end." Edwina sighed as she stepped to the side.

The five remaining players managed to hold on for a while longer and SSBFreak realized that no one else would be dropping for a bit. "I'll check back in with you guys in a few minutes to see how you're doing." He said.

The minutes crawled by for the remaining players. They were starting to feel the effects of standing in one place too long and everyone's arms were starting to fall asleep.

"It's been half an hour now. I'm sure that you're all starting to feel the effects of the challenge by now." SSBFreak informed. "Tokyo, what are your thoughts at the moment?"

"I don't have any. I'm just clearing my head to remain focused on the challenge." Tokyo replied.

"You think that's going to work?"

"It'll work so long as I don't focus on any asked questions."

"Liz, you look like you're struggling. You having trouble?" SSBFreak asked.

"I'm the weakest left now that Carly and Edwina are out." Liz replied. "I'm trying to stay in, but I don't know how long I can last."

"Bianca, how comfortable are you with your chances?"

"Not that good. I'm fairly strong, but all I can do is hope that the strong guys mess up." Bianca replied.

"Yori, how are you holding up?" SSBFreak asked.

"Better than you think. I've still got a lot in me." Yori replied. "And if you think I'm going to drop willingly, then guess again."

"How about you, Inferno? You feeling tired yet?"

"I'm starting to feel it, but I've got a lot of fight left in me." Inferno assured. "We've been at this for half an hour, and I intend to see it through to the end."

Just after Inferno finished talking, Liz let go of her rope, dumping the barrel of water over her.

"Liz is out!"

Bianca suddenly slipped and lost her grip on the rope she was holding, letting the water she was holding up dump over her as well.

"Bianca is out as well!" SSBFreak said. "This leaves us with Inferno, Tokyo and Yori."

Liz groaned as she left the field. "I knew it was only a matter of time." She said.

The remaining three continued to hold on and SSBFreak saw that they were determined to stay in the game. "I'll check back with you guys in a few minutes. By then, you should be getting tired." He said.

The remaining three players continued to hold up for several more minutes. The next round of questions came around and they were all still in it. Even still, it looked like all three players would still persevere.

"You've been holding up the barrels for forty-five minutes and your arms must feel like rubber by now. I'm pretty impressed that you guys are still in." SSBFreak said. "Inferno, how do you have this much endurance?"

"You need to have a lot of endurance when you're an athlete. Falling down a mountain on a snowboard a couple of times will build up your endurance." Inferno said.

"Uh…Really?"

"I dunno, but it seemed to work for me."

SSBFreak blinked, but decided to move on. "Yori, same question. How do you have so much endurance?"

"Being a cyborg with a metal arm helps. Before I became a cyborg, I was probably an average woman." Yori said with a smirk.

"Care to tell us how you became a cyborg?"

"Not particularly." Yori said, eyes narrowed.

"Tokyo, what about you? You're stronger than you let on." SSBFreak pointed out.

"Unlike other ninjas, I focus on upper-body strength as opposed to stealth." Tokyo admitted. "Where I come from, it's kinda hard to be stealthy anyway."

"Who do you guys think will win the challenge?"

"It all depends on who screws up first." Yori replied.

"At this point, it could go any way." Tokyo agreed.

"We're all feeling it at his point. Someone has to be getting tired." Inferno finished.

A few more moments passed. The eliminated players watched, although starting to get bored. They all wanted the challenge to finish, but they were all hoping that the right person would win the challenge.

After what seemed like an eternity, two of the three contestants dropped their rope, finally giving in. The victor was still holding the barrel off the ground.

Tokyo and Yori watched as Inferno continued to hold the barrel off the ground, seemingly unaware that he had just won.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Inferno wins Immunity!"

"Alright!" Inferno cheered as he dropped his barrel and got out of the way before getting soaked.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Inferno. You have a one-in-six shot at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed the Immunity Necklace.

"Two in a row. That's sweet." Inferno said with a smirk.

SSBFreak turned to the other six players. "Inferno is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing you all tonight at Tribal Council, where you will vote someone else out of the game." He explained. "Once again, I'll give you the rest of the day to make up your minds, so for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Inferno won Immunity again, which doesn't really matter to us. What we need to do is vote for who he wants to secure his vote." Bianca explained. "Since he wants to get rid of Yori, Edwina and I will vote for her. I fine with getting rid of her now, though. I think she's overstayed her welcome, anyway."_

"Okay. We're voting for Yori, right?" Bianca double-checked.

"Right." Inferno replied with a smirk. "She'll manipulate people to vote with her if she stays, and if she makes it to the end, she may sway the jury."

"We just wanted to make sure." Bianca nodded.

"Thanks, girls."

Bianca and Edwina walked off, and when they did, Carly looked at Inferno. "I still think keeping Yori could be the best idea." She supplied.

Inferno sighed. "Carly, you can't let what she says get to you. You should know that by now." He replied.

"Yori hasn't told me anything! It's just…There's a big opportunity here and I don't think it's good to let it go to waste!" Carly explained. "Yori's a huge goat because no one here trusts her! I can't think of anyone who would vote for Yori to win over anyone else!"

Meanwhile, Tokyo was sitting by the fire pit when Yori approached him. "I take it you're trying to get my vote again?" He asked.

"I'm trying to save myself. You can't blame me." Yori shrugged.

"_I've been trying to spare my neck numerous times now, and I've managed to get by. However, since the competition's winding down, I need to try even harder." Yori said. "If I can convince three people to vote for someone else, then I'm good. Like before, I think Tokyo will be the easiest to convince since he's always thinking that he's immune to being manipulated."_

"You can't deny that she'll be a threat." Yori said. "Like I said, she pretty much IS the leader of the other alliance."

"I know it may seem likely, Yori." Tokyo admitted. "However, I think you may be blowing things out of proportion, although since you seem to be in danger, it's probably expected."

"Just think it over and think it over fast." Yori directed. "You need to make the right choice and you may not get another chance."

Liz came over after Yori walked off and watched the cyborg go. "What do you think?" She asked.

"I think someone's trying to get my vote." Tokyo shook his head.

_Liz sat in front of the camera and sighed. "I really hate it when it comes down to this…" She lamented._

**(Tribal Council)**

The seven remaining players entered Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Finding their seats amongst the seven stumps, everyone sat down to wait for council to begin.

"Before we start, let's bring out the members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Mugg, Luther and Grace, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

The castaways watched as Grace followed Mugg and Luther into the hut. She was now wearing a green blouse, dark pants and a light 1940's-style mob hat. She sat down on the jury bench with the others.

"The jury is only here to observe the outcome of council. They will not address you and you are not to address them." SSBFreak said before starting to ask questions. "Edwina, Grace got eliminated last time. How did you feel after that?"

"Bianca and I were shocked, because Grace always told us that she had things covered because she had an ally." Edwina replied. "We weren't expecting said ally to have a hand in voting her out."

"Liz, I assume she's talking about you?" SSBFreak asked.

"She is." Liz said simply.

"Why did you vote Grace out?"

"Because it felt like she didn't consider me an alliance member anymore. She never let me have any input and just told me how things were going to go." Liz replied. "I made friends with Mugg while Grace was away, and if I had known he was her target, I would have told her."

"I couldn't have been that bad." Grace folded her arms.

"She DID vote you out." Luther said.

"Yori, you've been a target multiple times now. You think you can survive?" SSBFreak asked.

"I know I can. It's just a question of what to say to people. I need to show the others who the bigger threats are, because we all know the finale is around the corner." Yori explained.

"Inferno, you won your second Immunity in a row. Did you need it?"

"I think so. I know people are starting to see me as a threat or else I wouldn't get targeted." Inferno shrugged. "I'm glad I'm winning these Immunities, because I think I'd be in trouble without them."

"Tokyo, since you don't have Immunity, do you feel like you could be a target?"

"Normally, I probably would, but tonight I feel comfortable. I didn't hear my name come up for elimination." Tokyo replied. "Still, I need to remain on edge just in case something comes up."

"Like what?"

"This is Survivor. You never know."

"Why does it sound like he knows something?" Mugg mused.

"He probably does." Luther nodded.

"Bianca, what's your strategy in the game now that Grace is gone?" SSBFreak asked.

"Not that different. Edwina and I are doing the same things we did when we were aligned with Grace." Bianca replied. "I don't know what it was, but Grace leaving didn't affect us game-wise other than having one less person to throw some ideas around with."

"Carly, how do you think the vote's going to go?"

"There are two targets, and from what I can tell, it's going to be split." Carly replied. "No matter what happens, the vote will be split 4-3."

"You sound confident."

"I am. I don't see any other alternative." Carly shrugged.

"Okay, I think that's enough questions. Before I go any further, you have Immunity, Inferno." SSBFreak pointed out. "Are you keeping it?"

"Yep. Sure am."

"With that, Inferno is safe and cannot be voted out. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Tokyo, you're up."

Tokyo got up and left the hut to go vote. He approached the table and scribbled a name down before placing it in the urn and leaving the table.

Yori walked up to the table and voted, showing her ballot to the camera. "I need to split the alliance. You're a bigger threat." She said, having voted for Bianca.

Edwina walked up to the table and wrote a name down quickly. She didn't waste any time in voting and then leaving the table again.

Liz quickly wrote a name down. Making sure she voted for the right person, she placed the ballot into the urn.

Bianca wrote a name down and showed it, revealing Yori's name. "Inferno wants you out, and we need to get on his good side." She explained.

Inferno was smirking as he wrote a name down. He wasted no time in folding the ballot and placing it in the urn with the others.

Carly looked undecided as she approached the table. Second-guessing herself a few times, she finally made a decision and voted.

Once everyone had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." SSBFreak said, pausing just in case someone wanted to play the idol. Tokyo, risking it, remained silent. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Yori." Yori looked unfazed.

"Yori." Yori narrowed her eyes.

"…Bianca." Bianca lifted an invisible eyebrow.

"Yori. She leads 3-1." Yori knew that this was it…

"Bianca." Bianca sat in her seat, tense.

"Bianca." The two in question exchanged glances. "Last vote, fourth member of the jury and twelfth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Bianca. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Bianca was stunned at the turn of events, but managed to recover and stood up. "Someone's not choosing a side." She said as she grabbed her torch and brought it to the host.

"Bianca, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Bianca's torch." It's time for you to go."

"I had a good run." Bianca said as she walked out of the hut and vanished from sight.

When Bianca was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "Another Tribal Council has come and gone and Bianca won't be going back with you. She wasn't expecting that." He said. "There are six of you left, but only nine days left in the competition. We need to fix that and fix it fast. The contest is coming to a close once again, but remember that only one of you can win. With that in mind, you can all head back to camp."

The six remaining players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Carly brought up the rear, looking slightly guilty. Despite what Inferno insisted, Carly genuinely thought keeping Yori over Bianca was a good strategic move. Only time would tell if she made the right choice…

"_I did better than you'd likely expect from a Bianky, so I have no regrets about how I played my game. I hope I could have gone further, but it was beyond my control." Bianca admitted. "As of now, I don't know who I'll be voting for, because if Edwina doesn't make it, I'll have a hard time making my decision…"_

**Voting History:**

**Bianca – Carly, Liz, Tokyo and Yori**

**Yori – Bianca, Edwina and Inferno**

Author's Note: When I cast Bianca, I knew she would be a mid-gamer, but wouldn't make the endgame. However, in planning stages, she and Grace were constantly switching places because I didn't know who would be better to boot first. I eventually decided that Grace would get the boot first for story-related issues and Bianca would go here by default.

On a side note, the guest episode is next! Who do you guys think will be visiting the remaining six contestants?


	13. Days 31 to 33

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Bianca just got eliminated, and that means Carly flipped again. This is getting frustrating because Carly's supposed to be my alliance member." Inferno replied. "Naturally, I think Yori's responsible for planting ideas, which proves that this game will turn on its head if something isn't done about it."_

"Carly, you voted out Bianca. I know you did." Inferno said.

"I'm sorry, Inferno. I had to." Carly said.

"Why did you have to? No one here likes Yori!"

"Exactly! Any one of us could beat her in the finals!"

"_Inferno's been so focused on getting rid of Yori that he's forgetting that she's the perfect goat. Anyone here, even some people that have already been voted out, could win against her." Carly informed. "I know it may seem out of character for a Muppet to think of things like that, but can you blame me?"_

As Inferno and Carly were talking, Yori went over to Liz and Tokyo. "Thank you for keeping me again, guys." She said.

"Think nothing of it, but we may need you to repay the debt at some point." Tokyo said.

"Like voting with you?"

"More or less."

"Then that's no problem. We'll see how things go in the next couple of days."

With that, Yori walked off. Liz looked at Tokyo. "I don't think she'll make good on her repayment." She said.

"Neither do I."

"_Tokyo and I know that Yori would be the ideal person to take to the end, but we also know that she can't be trusted." Liz pointed out. "She says that she'll vote with us, but we need to be sure, and that's why we can't assume that things will go our way."_

"_Coming into this, I wanted to make sure I split up threatening alliances and pick off the members. However, Tokyo and Liz fall into that category now." Yori said with a smirk. "Maybe it's high time I separated them, especially since they came together after losing previous partners."_

The six finalists decided to go to bed, knowing that the competition still wasn't over yet and they needed to be ready for the next challenge.

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 31)**

Edwina walked through camp, alone now that all of her allies had been eliminated. The Survivor fan wondered what would be the next step if she wanted to stay in the game.

"_With Bianca gone, I've lost all of my help out here. I need to find a new plan to help myself in the game, but I really think I'm running out of ideas." Edwina admitted. "Now that I'm alone, I'm easy pickings to be eliminated…"_

"I can't align with another alliance. I'll just be a third wheel and they'll kick me off after everyone else." Edwina mused. "I need to join up with someone that doesn't have an alliance going."

"Like me?"

Edwina turned and was surprised to see Yori coming over with a smirk. "What do you want?" She asked.

"Edwina, I want to join forces. Both of us are alone and we'll get picked off if we don't do something." Yori explained.

"Why don't I help everyone else vote you out like they want?" Edwina asked.

"Because you'll go after me. Trust me on that one." Yori said.

"_Now that Edwina is alone, my goal is to align with her and take the other alliances down. I know that they're going to get stronger if we let them, which is why I want to separate them now." Yori pointed out. "I need an alliance to do that, but I need an alliance member I can beat in the finals."_

"Why are you even approaching me with that offer?" Edwina asked skeptically.

"This late in the game, I'll be honest with you. My goal has been to take out opposing and threatening alliances." Yori explained.

"So that's why you seemed to target people you logically shouldn't have?" Edwina asked, folding her arms.

"It's not like I shouldn't have targeted them. They all would have become major threats." Yori pointed out. "Which brings me to my next targets: Liz and Tokyo. They're both threats and I don't want to let either of them make it to the end."

"How do I know you're telling the truth about joining me?"

"You don't."

"_It may sound insane, but I think forming a small alliance with Yori may be my only option at this point." Edwina sighed. "She's the only one that isn't technically aligned with someone, and also the only one that probably won't kick me off after eliminating bigger threats. I just hope this doesn't come back to bite me later."_

Meanwhile, Tokyo and Liz were sitting at the shelter, discussing the game.

"So now what?" Liz asked. "If Inferno gets wise and decides to abandon his crusade against Yori, he'll come after you again."

"I know, but I'm not worried. Not yet, at least." Tokyo said with a smirk.

"Why? We could be at a severe disadvantage later." Liz asked.

"Because I've got a little added assurance." Tokyo replied as he withdrew the Immunity Idol he had.

Liz's eyes widened. "YOU'VE had it?" She asked. "This whole time, you're the one that had the idol?"

"I didn't know it was the idol at the time. I just took it 'just in case'." Tokyo replied. "After the merge, you told me that it was actually the idol."

"_Having the Immunity Idol will only help us once, but it will help us big time this late in the game." Tokyo said. "If we can eliminate a major threat with this, we may still be able to control the game and make the finals. However, half the problem is choosing that target, since almost everyone here is a threat in some form."_

"_I was blown away when I found that Tokyo had the idol. This is a good sign, because it'll prolong our stay if the others decide to target us." Liz said. "This came as a surprise to me for how long he was able to keep it a secret. Grace was spending a lot of time trying to figure out who had the idol in the first place."_

"So who do you think we should target?" Liz asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Tokyo replied. "We'll look around the camp and compare the others to see if any of them are bigger threats."

"Okay. Just remember to watch your back. People may get wise."

"Of course."

Meanwhile again, Carly was at the fire pit, alone. She looked into the extinguished fire pit and sighed, wondering if she had made the right decision.

"_I really didn't want to fracture Inferno's trust in me by voting out Bianca. I just thought keeping Yori was the best choice." Carly said. "I'm starting to second-guess myself, though, especially since the last thing I want is an alliance member who is angry with me."_

"Maybe I didn't do the right thing." Carly muttered. "Maybe getting rid of Bianca wasn't the best idea."

"Hold that thought, Carly."

Carly looked over her shoulder and saw Inferno coming over. "What do you mean, Inferno?" She asked.

"I've been thinking. Maybe your idea was the right one after all." Inferno nodded.

"_I went to bed last night feeling disappointed, but Carly's logic stuck in my head. After waking up, I gave it more thought and realized Carly was right." Inferno said. "This late in the game, you want to focus on threats, and Yori doesn't really pose much of one. Besides, going after her at this point may not be the best idea."_

"You don't want to go after Yori now?" Carly asked.

"She's likely going to be able to persuade others to vote with her. It won't get us anywhere if we go after her." Inferno replied. "For now, we should target someone else. Someone that's a bigger threat."

"So…You see my logic now?" Carly asked.

"Yeah. It just took me a little too long." Inferno shook his head.

"_I'm just glad Inferno finally decided to expand his thoughts and decided to ponder other options. If he didn't, he'd likely be in a severe minority for voting against Yori." Carly said. "Like he said, if we can't get rid of Yori now even after as long as it's been, it probably won't happen at all."_

"So who do you think is the biggest threat?" Carly asked. "I think Liz and Tokyo could be dangerous if left alone."

"Yeah, although I don't want to go after Liz. We should go after Tokyo first." Inferno said.

"That's fine. Is it because you helped Liz at the start of the contest?"

"Something like that."

"But how do we do this?" Carly asked. "If we joined Edwina, that's only three of us. We need a majority."

"If we convince Yori that we're not voting against her, maybe she'll vote with us." Inferno suggested.

"You think she will, though?"

"It's the only way to avoid a tie."

"_Carly and I want to avoid a tie because a tiebreaker could go either way. In order to avoid it altogether, we need to make sure we have Yori's vote." Inferno explained. "We don't exactly trust her, but we need to at least try it to see if it will even work."_

Night eventually rolled in and the final six decided to go to bed, knowing that there was a challenge the following day.

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 32)**

"So you want to vote out Liz or Tokyo?" Yori asked.

"Yeah. They're both pretty big threats." Carly nodded. "You think we can trust you to vote with us, though?"

"I'm all for taking out the threats."

"_I'm unsure of what to think here. Carly literally came to me and asked if I wanted to joined forces. However, I know she's likely to be lying and just wanting me to let my guard down." Yori explained. "I think I'd better go with it for now, but keep my eyes open for cracks that I can find information from."_

"Which one are you guys targeting first?" Yori asked.

"We haven't decided yet. We're going to see how things turn out." 

Meanwhile, Tokyo and Liz were walking to the treemail box.

"You don't think people are aware that you've got the idol, do they?" Liz asked as she looked back.

"I don't know. Frankly, I think the Sa'zan alliance was suspicious of Inferno before they started getting eliminated." Tokyo replied.

"_No one knows that I have the idol, and from what I last heard, Inferno was a prime target. I don't know if I'll be needing to use the idol, but it has to come eventually." Tokyo explained. "The biggest question is if I need to hold onto it for one more round or if I can use it now…"_

Liz pulled a letter out of the treemail box. "How many more days do we have left in the contest?" She asked.

"Uh…Around seven?"

Liz paused in thought. "It should be a Reward Challenge, then. Let's go." She said.

Everyone gathered around Liz when she and Tokyo returned to camp as the redhead read the letter. "It's asking if we can rely on other people and not ourselves." She replied.

"Is…Is it a team-based challenge?" Edwina asked. "It certainly sounds like it."

"We'll have to see and find out when we get there." Tokyo replied.

"_There are only a few challenges left, and if I want to go further, I need to win the Immunities. I don't know if this is Reward or Immunity, but I still need the victories." Edwina pointed out. "It's about time I showed how good a Survivor superfan can do in these challenges…"_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The six finalists emerged from the jungle and into a large clearing. Quickly seeing their tribe's mat on the ground, they all walked over and stepped on to wait for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to the next Reward Challenge, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will test teamwork and athletic ability." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a moderate-sized obstacle course in the clearing. "However, you won't be taking part in it."

This took everyone by surprise. "What?" Liz asked.

"The people that will be doing this challenge are the people that are coming to visit you." SSBFreak said before looking to the side. "Come on out, everyone!"

Six new figures emerged from the jungle and walked into view. The castaways were surprised and pleased that they had made the guest visit challenge. Leading the new group was a tall, bald man with glowing red goggles over his eyes. "From Timesplitters, we've brought Sgt. Cortez." SSBFreak said.

Yori smirked. "It's good to see you, Cortez."

Next was an orange-furred lamb with red hair, a red shirt and jeans. She had a timid expression. "Representing Parappa the Rapper is Lammy."

"Hi, Lammy!" Liz greeted.

Next was a short, fat man dressed in a blue ninja outfit. "We've also brought Ebisumaru from Mystical Ninja."

Tokyo couldn't help but smirk. "This could be interesting to watch." He chuckled.

A timid being with pink skin was following. He had a large nose, bright orange hair and was wearing a lab coat. "We've also brought Beaker from the Muppet Show."

"Oh! Hey, Beaker! How's the radiation poisoning?" Carly greeted happily.

"Meep…" Beaker sighed.

The next person was a short being with a red hat that looked like a rooster comb. He wore a pair of headphones and a blue shirt with a star on it. "We've also brought Maxwell, the protagonist of Scribblenauts."

"It's good to see you again, Maxwell!" Edwina said with a grin.

Last in line was a tall man with dreadlocks. He wore a white tank-top, ripped jeans and had a shoulder tattoo. "Finally, representing SSX, we have Psymon Stark."

"Hey! Psymon! How's it going, man!" Inferno greeted.

"Awesome! Still shredding the course and scaring the bejeezes out of Kaori!" Psymon laughed before turning to his tattoo. "Hey! Don't think that! You yourself said that was funny! Quit taking her side!"

Needless to say, the other guests inched away from Psymon as he continued to argue with his tattoo.

SSBFreak continued. "Here's the rules: The guests will be the only ones competing, and they will be competing in teams of two. Each pair will be handcuffed together and must run this obstacle course, which requires teamwork and quick thinking to be done quickly. First is a set of balance beams that the team must cross at the same time and the same pace, then they must cross a series of stumps without either one of the pair touching the ground. The third obstacle is a long jump to a platform that both team members have to land on at once. Finally, there's a climb up a large net to the finish platform. The team that makes it to the finish platform in the fastest time will win Reward, which is a trip to a spa for both the guests and the castaways they represent."

Everyone looked eager and excited to get started, with the exception of Cortez, whom simply shrugged.

"Here are the randomly-selected teams. First off: Lammy and Maxwell."

"Hey. I'm…I'm fine with it." Lammy nodded meekly.

"Sure. I think it'll work." Maxwell agreed.

"Next up: Cortez and Ebisumaru."

"Oh, goody! I get to be on the team with the big, strong guy!" Ebisumaru said.

Cortez looked down at Ebisumaru strangely. "Uh…Okay…"

Beaker's eyes snapped open when he realized what this meant. "M-MEEP? Meep-meep-meep!" He cried.

"That leaves our last team to be Psymon and Beaker."

Beaker instantly rushed towards SSBFreak, got on his knees and started pleading. "Meemeeemeep! Meeeeeep…" He pleaded.

"Sorry, Beaker. Them's the breaks."

"Don't worry, little buddy! We've got this challenge in the bag!" Psymon laughed as he grabbed Beaker's arm and dragged him back to where the guests were standing. "I eat obstacle courses like this for breakfast! Mmm…Delicious pain!"

"Meep…" Beaker squeaked.

**(Later…)**

The first team up was Lammy and Maxwell. The two were handcuffed together and stood at the start of the obstacle course, ready to go.

"You guys ready?" SSBFreak asked.

"Uh…Not really." Lammy mused.

"Yes we are." Maxwell nodded.

"Okay, get ready…Go!" SSBFreak said.

Maxwell jumped onto the starting platform, yanking a surprised and unprepared Lammy along with him. Lammy recovered in time to step onto her balance beam while Maxwell did the same with his.

"M-Maxwell, hold up!" Lammy said as Maxwell pulled her along the balance beam.

"You're going to need to pick up the pace, Lammy." Maxwell instructed, but nevertheless slowed down and allowed Lammy to catch up to him. Before too long, the two were across the balance beams.

"They've made it across the first obstacle! It's now time for the series of small jumps." SSBFreak said.

"Okay. Try and land on the closest stump and keep moving forward." Maxwell instructed. "Ready?"

Lammy nodded. "O-Okay." She said.

The two jumped at the same time, jumping to different stumps (as each would only hold one). They continued jumping to the next stumps, but they eventually got pulled apart and Maxwell ended up yanking Lammy off the course.

"Lammy's touched the ground. You guys need to try the obstacle again." SSBFreak directed.

The two wasted no time in going back to the start of the obstacle and climbing back up again. They jumped to the first two stumps easily.

"I think we should try to jump in a straight line." Lammy pointed out.

"We'll try." Maxwell nodded.

The two jumped again, making it to another two stumps. It took a bit, but the two managed to make it across the obstacle and land on the platform on the other side.

"They managed to make it across the stumps. Now it's time for the one long jump." SSBFreak said.

Lammy looked at the length of the gap separating the platform they were standing on to the platform they needed to land on. "H-How are we supposed to cross THAT?" She asked.

"Let's try a running start."

The two backed up and charged the gap together. They jumped and Maxwell managed to land on the platform, but Lammy didn't jump long enough and landed on the ground, pulling Maxwell with her.

"You guys need to try that one again." SSBFreak said.

The pair raced back to the platform and climbed up, preparing to jump again. Backign up again, the two raced and leapt at the same time, Lammy leaping as long as she could. This time, they managed to land on the platform.

"Okay, guys! All that's left is the climb up the net!"

"This should be a piece of cake." Maxwell said. "You can climb, right?"

"Yes." Lammy nodded.

The two grabbed hold of the net and started climbing up it. They were going at a slower pace due to being handcuffed together, but they were still making decent timing. It took a bit of struggling to make it, but the two managed to make it to the top and stop the clock without much of a problem.

"Lammy and Maxwell have set the time to beat: Two and a half minutes!" SSBFreak announced.

Lammy sighed in relief. "That was harder than it looked."

"You guys did great!" Liz cheered.

**(Later…)**

Cortez and Ebisumaru were next. The tall soldier and stumpy ninja stood at the start of the course, ready to go.

Cortez looked down at his partner. "You ready for-" He stopped himself when he saw that Ebisumaru was suddenly now wearing nothing except for his blue headgear and a bright pink thong. Cortez blinked. "Okay, two questions: Why are you wearing a thong, and how did you get into it while still handcuffed to me?"

"I thought I could distract the others with my sexiness." Ebisumaru replied. "As for how I changed, that's one of my little secrets."

"That's it! I want a new partner!" Cortez promptly shouted.

"Sorry, Cortez. The teams were randomly chosen." SSBFreak shrugged. "But get ready…"

"Fine."

"…Go!"

Cortez quickly jumped onto his balance beam as Ebisumaru hopped onto his. Cortez rushed forward, but he was pulling Ebisumaru too fast and the portly ninja fell off his balance beam, yanking Cortez backwards and making him fall off as well.

"Try again, guys." SSBFreak said.

Cortez hauled Ebisumaru to his feet and ran over to the start of the beams to try again. Stepping onto the balance beams, the two ran across, Cortez making sure Ebisumaru didn't fall off this time. The two finally managed to make it across, but they were still behind the lead.

"The balance beams are complete. Time for the small jumps." SSBFreak said.

"You can jump these, right?" Cortez asked.

"Yeah! I can jump twice as far as these jumps!" Ebisumaru replied.

"Then let's go." Cortez replied back.

The two started making their way across and managed to clear a few of the stumps. However, Ebisumaru landed on the edge of one of the stumps and fell off, pulling Cortez down with him.

"Try again."

Cortez groaned as he pulled Ebisumaru up and rushed over to the start of the second obstacle. "Try and focus on your landings this time, creepy guy." He directed.

"Whatever you say, darling." Ebisumaru replied.

"These handcuffs can't come off soon enough." Cortez muttered as the two started again.

The two managed to jump across the stumps better the second time around and managed to cross to the other platform, although Ebisumaru stumbled a bit again.

"Time for the long jump." SSBFreak said.

"We're doing a running jump." Cortez directed as he stepped back.

"Of course." Ebisumaru nodded.

The two ran at the gap and leapt, although Ebisumaru's fat frame didn't really jump far. Cortez landed on the platform, and yanked the handcuffs, hauling Ebisumaru onto the platform without letting the fat ninja touch the ground.

"It's just the net climb to go!" SSBFreak said.

"You are officially the worst ninja I've ever seen." Cortez said before starting to climb the net.

"It's not my fault the course isn't affected by my sexiness!" Ebisumaru insisted as he followed Cortez.

As it turned out, Ebisumaru held the team back yet again, as his climbing was nowhere near Cortez's level. The two managed to make it to the top of the net and onto the platform, but it took them a while to do it.

"Sorry, guys. You didn't beat the time set by Lammy and Maxwell." SSBFreak said.

"That's fine with me. Now get me the keys to these cuffs!" Cortez said as he held up his cuffed hand, holding Ebisumaru off the ground.

Tokyo chuckled. "I have to admit. That was more-fun to watch than I thought it would be."

**(Later…)**

The last team to go were Psymon and Beaker. Needless to say, Psymon was grinning with anticipation while Beaker was shaking like a leaf.

"Last up is Psymon and Beaker. You guys ready?" SSBFreak asked. Beaker rigorously shook his head, but he was obviously ignored. "Go!"

Psymon took that as a starting gong and raced towards the balance beams, yanking Beaker along, who was struggling to catch up. Beaker managed to catch up and climbed onto his balance beam.

"Okay! Let's tear this course a new one!" Psymon cheered as he took off running down his beam. Beaker raced behind, but was quickly pulled down onto his face. Beaker didn't touch the ground, but he was pulled along his balance beam on his face until Psymon stopped on the platform at the end.

"The balance beams are crossed and now it's time for the small jumps."

"Meeeep…" A woozy Beaker squeaked as he got up.

"We can't stop now! Here we go!" Psymon said as he jumped to a stump and quickly continued going.

Beaker tried to keep up with Psymon and managed to jump to two stumps, but was pulled down again as Psymon pulled him along. Beaker hit his head on each stump he came upon, but still didn't touch the ground. Psymon landed safely on the ending platform while Beaker crashed down on it in a crumpled heap.

"Time for the long jump."

"You heard the host, little buddy!" Psymon said as Beaker got to his feet, holding his head.

"Meemeemoe!" Beaker said, waving his hands in front of his face.

Psymon didn't listen and jumped, pulling Beaker with him. Psymon easily landed on the finish platform, but Beaker flew face-first into the side of it. Psymon pulled Beaker up and set him on his feet.

"One more obstacle remains, guys!"

"Right! The net climb! Come on!" Psymon said as he pulled Beaker towards the net and started climbing it with one hand.

Beaker, by now, had just given up. All he could do was just stay in midair and let Psymon haul him up the net himself with brute strength. He thought his pains were over, but Psymon jumped onto the top platform, launching Beaker into the air and making him land flat on his back on the platform.

"And that's it! It only took forty seconds to do the course!" SSBFreak said. "The challenge is over! Because Psymon and Beaker won that, Inferno and Carly win Reward!"

"Alright! We did it!" Psymon laughed. "Hey, great work, little buddy!"

Beaker didn't answer. He just collapsed in a heap.

**(Later…)**

Inferno and Carly were congratulating Psymon and Beaker for winning the challenge, although Beaker still looked close to passing out in pain.

"Congratulations, you guys. You won the challenge and the trip to the spa for the day." SSBFreak said. "Carly and Inferno will be back tomorrow for the Immunity Challenge."

"We've got these guys to thank for it." Carly replied.

SSBFreak turned to the remaining players and their guests. "As for the rest of you, I have nothing to give you except the chance to spend the day with your guests. I'll see you tomorrow at the Immunity Challenge, but for now, you can head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Inferno's guest demolished that challenge, which sucks because Lammy had the top time until then. I wouldn't have minded going on a trip." Liz lamented. "That being said, it's good to see that we're nevertheless allowed to have our guests visit. It's a nice change of pace having someone that you know outside of the game to hang out with."_

"So this is your camp?" Lammy asked as she looked around.

"Basically. It's not the one I started out on, but I got moved to it after the switch." Liz shrugged.

"Where are you standing at the moment, Liz?" Lammy asked.

"Not good. I formed an alliance with someone who lost his partners after I lost mine." Liz shook her head. "We have a little leadway, but I don't know how long it'll last."

"Who did you team up with?" Lammy asked.

"Here he comes now." Liz said as she saw Tokyo coming over, alone. "Where's your guest? I thought he'd be hanging out with you."

"He's spying on Cortez for reasons I don't really want to know." Tokyo rolled his eyes. The girls eyed each other uneasily.

"Uh…Sorry you didn't win the challenge though, Tokyo." Liz said.

Lammy blinked in confusion. "Uh…'Tokyo'?" She asked.

Tokyo sighed. "Please don't get into that now." He said. "But its fine I didn't win. It was entertaining to watch."

"_As strange as he is, Ebisumaru's always a blast to watch as he fails something ninjas are supposed to be good at." Tokyo said with a smirk._

"_I have shamed my body by not winning the challenge while in my lucky thong, but the past is the past." A (thankfully) fully-clothed Ebisumaru said. "Now that I'm at this camp, I can admire the extreme manliness of the guy that I was teamed up with."_

Meanwhile, Yori was off to the side of the shelter, talking to Cortez.

"Man. I can't believe some of the things you've been doing out here." Cortez shook his head.

"Surprised that I'm cunning and ruthless in a game where there's a million bucks at stake?" Yori asked.

"Of course. You never act like this back at the base." Cortez shrugged.

"I knew this would do me good for the game. It's worked well so far."

"_I'm comfortable with how I've been playing the game. Even pre-merge, I've been taking out people who I deem threats." Yori explained. "Now that the finale is coming up, I need to take out the big jury threats, but I need to do it fast…"_

"_Yori's surprised me in more ways than one. Let me tell you that she's a completely-different person outside the game." Cortez insisted. "Heck, she has a soft spot for cats! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she's wearing her lucky kitten-print underwear while she's out here. Don't tell her I said that, though."_

**(Spa)**

"Ah! This is the life." Carly said as she relaxed on a folding chair that was sitting on an outdoor patio.

"You said it. After spending so long at camp, this is a welcome surprise." Inferno, sitting in the chair beside her, nodded.

"You guys sure you don't want to join me?" Psymon asked from the hot tub, where he was sitting alone.

"Yes." Carly and Inferno said flatly.

"_I'm glad that Inferno's guest won us the challenge, but to be frank, he really scares me, and that's saying something when you consider the people I hang out with." Carly said. "It makes me wonder why the heck Inferno is even FRIENDS with the guy. I mean, he spent the entire trip to the spa talking to his tattoo! Beaker was too afraid to go near him!"_

"Inferno, how do you KNOW this guy?" Carly asked.

"He's on the circuit where I come from. Most people don't like hanging out with him and I just decided to keep him company." Inferno shrugged. "We've been friends ever since."

"His mannerisms don't get to you?"

"They're funny once you get used to them." Inferno shrugged.

"It's too bad you can't get used to me in one day, girl. You'd love me!" Psymon laughed before looking at his tattoo. "Hey! Don't talk like that to me!...Mind your manners, you! You have no idea how old she is!"

Carly quickly grabbed her chair and inched it even further from the hot tub.

"_Psymon's a looney, that's for sure, but the fans love him and that's why the SSX board of directors has let him stick around since he first joined." Inferno said. "If you can get to know him, he can be quite the friend. Heck, I couldn't count the number of times he's saved my neck from jealous rivals simply because I'm his friend."_

Beaker came walking onto the patio, clad in a pair of swim trunks and a towel draped over his shoulder. By this point, Psymon was getting out of the hot tub.

"Well, I think that's enough for me. I'm gonna go see if there's something fun to do around here." Psymon said.

"Just so long as you don't swipe anything or chase after one of the workers, it's fine." Inferno said.

"You're no fun, man."

Beaker walked over to the now-empty hot tub and stepped in, but shortly after her did, his eyes widened.

"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!" Beaker screamed as he leapt out of the hot tub, revealing that his entire lower half was a bright red.

"Psymon! You turned the hot tub heat to its max?" Carly asked.

"I love my pain!" Psymon laughed.

"_While Beaker definitely deserves a vacation, I wish pain and misfortune wouldn't follow him wherever he went." Carly sighed._

"_I like that Beaker guy. He can take almost anything that gets thrown at him!" Psymon laughed. "He'd make a killing on SSX!"_

Night eventually came in and the six finalists decided to go to bed, knowing an Immunity Challenge was the following day.

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 33)**

"_Apparently, our guests can't come with us to the Immunity Challenge this time, so we'll be going our separate ways when we get treemail." Edwina said. "Because of that, I want to make sure I tell Maxwell about my position in the game and see if he can help me, because he's a lot better at solving puzzles than I am."_

"At the moment, I'm without an ally. In fact, I had to join up with the person no one here likes just to avoid being a third wheel." Edwina said.

"If nobody likes her, then how's she still in the game?" Maxwell asked.

"Because we can all beat her in the finals." Edwina replied. "That being said, I'm running out of ideas because I know the others will target me before her now."

"Have you won any challenges yet?"

"I won a trivia challenge, but only because it was about Survivor." Edwina pointed out.

"You think you can win other challenges if the strong guys are eliminated?" Maxwell checked.

"I'd have a better chance, but I'm probably the weakest here physically." Edwina reminded. "Strength-based challenges are a write-off for me."

"_I don't really know what to say to Edwina. It sounds like she's done all she can and the only thing she can do now is either go on an Immunity run or vanish off people's radars." Maxwell scratched his head. "However, I don't see her winning challenges and she's too much of a fan of the game to go under the radar…"_

"We've got treemail. It's time for the Immunity Challenge." Tokyo announced as he came into camp.

"What's it say, Tokyo?" Liz asked.

Cortez lifted an eyebrow. "Is that really your name?" He asked.

"YES." Tokyo replied flatly before reading the latter. "It's wondering how good we are at finding a needle in a haystack."

"Great. I hate these types of challenges." Yori muttered.

"Well, this is where we split since we can't go to the challenge with you guys." Cortez said. "We're meeting Psymon and Beaker at the airport."

"It's been fun, guys. Thanks for coming out." Liz said.

The contestants said goodbye to their guests as they went their separate ways. The contestants went to the challenge as the guests left the camp by a different route.

"_It was fun having the guests show up and I'm glad I made the challenge. Now that the guests are gone, I can focus on the challenge." Liz said. "Since it doesn't sound like a strength challenge, I've got a chance to beat Inferno and Tokyo. I just hope I can…"_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The four castaways at camp emerged from the jungle and walked onto another clearing. They spotted their tribe mat on the ground and went over to step onto it.

"Before we begin, let's bring out Carly and Inferno, whom are returning from their Reward." SSBFreak said.

The castaways watched as the returning pair walked in from the side and stepped onto the mat. The tribe, now complete, waited for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will see how good you are at finding a needle in a haystack, and I mean that quite literally." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a huge haystack behind the host, spread out to cover a large area. "Hidden in the haystack are a number of letters, three for each of you. These letters are an S, a C and an H. Once you find one of these letters, you must bring it back to your table, of which we have six. The first person to find all three letters, the initials for the series, wins Immunity and will be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

The castaways looked at each other, knowing that the challenge basically came down to luck more than anything.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The six contestants raced past the host and towards the pile of hay, almost diving in. Hay was quickly pushed aside as the contestants started going through it in the attempt to find a letter. All six players started digging rapidly, and it looked like anyone could come out on top at this point.

"All of the contestants are starting strong, but that's natural." SSBFreak said. "They should tire of shoveling hay before too long."

It took several seconds of fierce shoveling, but some letters were quickly found due to there being so many. Carly and Yori were the first to find letters, Carly an S and Yori an H. The two raced from the hay pile and placed them on their respective tables.

"Carly and Yori each have a letter and take the lead."

"This could be bad." Tokyo muttered. "It could be over incredibly quickly…"

Suddenly, Inferno managed to find a letter. Pulling an S from the hay pile, the disco fanatic ran to his table and set it on.

"Inferno also finds a letter and ties for the lead."

As Inferno ran back to join the others, everyone else was furiously trying to find a letter to start or continue their puzzle. Even though only three letters were found thus far, it only meant that the challenge would be even harder to do…

The players continued to search through the hay, but weren't having much success. The pile of hay was rapidly getting smaller as everyone dug into it.

Suddenly, Tokyo managed to find a C. The ninja raced to his table and put the letter on it.

"Tokyo scores a point and catches up to the others."

"Still in it. Still in it." Tokyo told himself as he ran back.

"Where the heck are all of the letters?" Edwina asked. "I haven't found anything yet."

The searching continued, but it didn't take long for someone else to find a letter. Yori was the first to find her second letter, an S, and ran back to the table with it, putting it on hers.

"Yori has her second letter. Carly, Inferno and Tokyo all have one while Edwina and Liz have yet to score." SSBFreak announced.

Suddenly, Edwina found her first letter, an H. As she ran back with it, Inferno found his second letter, a C. The two raced back to the tables, Edwina beating Inferno (even though it didn't matter).

"Edwina gets her first point while Inferno gets his second."

"Crap. He's winning. We can't let him win." Tokyo muttered as he continued to search.

The contestants continued their searching as the pile of hay dwindled even smaller. Everyone knew that they needed to pick up the pace, and the people that only needed to find one more letter had to find a specific letter, making the search for it harder.

"The contestants are starting to slow down with their searching. I think they may be starting to tire out." SSBFreak said.

Indeed, the searching was starting to slow down, but this was to be expected after spending so long digging through the hay without stopping. Even the strong players looked like they were starting to show fatigue.

Suddenly, Tokyo managed to find his second letter, an S. He wasted no time in running back to his table and putting it down.

"Tokyo has two points. It seems to be between him, Inferno and Yori."

"Time to finish this. Where's that last letter?" Yori mused as she poked around in the hay.

The castaways continued searching, finding it harder and harder to come across a letter. Suddenly, Liz found her first letter, a C. The redhead rocker ran over to her table and set it down.

"Liz finally found her first letter, but she has a lot of catching up to do."

Tokyo pulled an S from the hay pile. Remembering that he already found and S, he quickly shoved it back. "I need an H. Where's that H?"

"What the heck? I already found this letter." Edwina moaned as she put the H she just found back in the hay pile.

"The castaways are starting to find duplicates. They need to find a letter that they don't yet have to score."

The six players continued to search trying their hardest to either find their last letter or catch up to the leaders. This continued for a good while before one player managed to find the letter they were looking for.

Inferno, clutching his newly-acquired H, ran to his table and put it down.

"That's it! That's three letters! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Inferno wins Immunity!"

"Totally awesome!" Inferno cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Inferno. You have a one-in-five chance at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed the Immunity Necklace to Inferno.

"Three in a row. I don't think it's ever been done before." Inferno said.

SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "Inferno is safe again tonight, but I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council, where you will again vote someone off. With only six of you left, I'm sure that the choices are getting harder. You can all head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Well, Inferno won Immunity. AGAIN. This means that he and Edwina will be going after Liz and I, most likely me." Tokyo said as he folded his arms. "Thankfully, I have the idol, but I need to know who they're targeting before I use it. Unfortunately, if I go to either of them for info, they may catch on, so I'll have to go through Yori."_

"Yori, I've seen you talking with Edwina. Is she and Inferno coming after me?" Tokyo asked.

"That's probably the only target they have. Why? You nervous?" Yori asked with a smirk.

"Of course I am. You're the swing vote here and I don't need to tell you that Inferno's got an alliance going with Carly." Tokyo said. "I want to enforce a tiebreaker, but I can't do that unless you vote with Liz and I."

"Tokyo, I vote for the people I deem threats. If I think that Carly or Edwina are bigger threats than you, then sure, I'll vote for them." Yori said.

"_This late in the game, it's not about eliminating strong players. It's about taking out the people you know you can't beat in the end." Yori reminded. "I know Tokyo and Inferno have this feud with each other because they're the strongest left, but they need to see which of them is the bigger jury threat and if there are actually bigger threats than them."_

Liz watched Yori walk off. "I don't know, Tokyo. The way things are looking, they could be going after either one of us." She said.

"Even though Inferno was aligned with you earlier?" Tokyo asked.

"I probably lost his trust after I voted out Grace." Liz shook her head.

Meanwhile, Carly walked up to Inferno while Edwina was off by the fire pit.

"We're targeting Tokyo?" She asked. "Inferno, I think Liz is the bigger jury threat."

"I don't want to go after Liz. Not yet, anyway. I want her to be the last one we target." Inferno said.

"But by then, we may already be at the finals and people like Grace and Mugg will be giving her the million dollars!"

"_Inferno wants to target Tokyo, but I want to target Liz. Inferno's got this goal to take at least one person from his original alliance as far as he can, but I don't see the point." Carly said. "She's voted against him ever since we made the merge, VOTING OUT one of her original alliance partners in the process."_

"Just think about it, Inferno. How many votes does Tokyo have locked in compared to how many Liz does?" Carly asked.

"At the moment, it's the same." Inferno replied. "If Tokyo doesn't go, he could end up winning Immunities and it would put me on the chopping block."

"Would it really?"

"I've won three Immunities in a row. I need to stay immune now."

"_Winning multiple challenges helps you get further in the game, but it makes you an even bigger target than before." Inferno said. "Tokyo's my main competition at winning challenges, so I need to take him out now, because I know I'm a dead man the instant I lose Immunity…"_

**(Tribal Council)**

The six players walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. They all walked over to the six stumps and sat down to wait for the council to commence.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Mugg, Luther, Grace and Bianca, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Bianca followed the other jury members into the hut. The Bianky woman was now wearing a turquoise jacket and skirt, and had her long hair in a bun. She sat down with the others.

"They are only here to observe the outcome of the council. Remember that you are not to address them and they won't address you." SSBFreak said as he started asking questions. "Inferno, you have Immunity for the third time in a row, a series first. How does that feel for you?"

"It feels good that I keep winning challenges, but it's also making me a bigger threat." Inferno pointed out. "The fact that I'm winning them so much proves that I'll likely be targeted as soon as I don't have it."

"So you're saying it's like a curse as well as a blessing?"

"Pretty much covers it."

"He's winning way too much." Mugg folded his arms. "I want someone else to win a challenge."

"Tokyo, since Inferno has Immunity, I'm assuming you're one of the targets tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"Yeah. Inferno and I are the strongest guys left, and we know that if one of us doesn't have Immunity, the other is a probable target." Tokyo replied. "I know it's only a matter of time until this feud ends, but I'm hoping that I'm the one to finish it."

"Uh…There ARE other people in the game." Grace lifted an eyebrow. "Not just him and Inferno."

"Edwina, you lost another ally last time we were here. How did that make you feel?" SSBFreak asked.

"Not good. First I lose Renaldo pre-merge, then Grace and Bianca leave back-to-back." Edwina shook her head. "I'm trying to do my best to go even further into the game, but it's hard when you don't have any real allies."

"I'm surprised she made it this far in itself." Luther noted.

"Yori, you've been a target for the past number of Tribal Councils and yet you're still here. How is that?" SSBFreak asked.

"I have others here who are willing to keep me." Yori replied with a smirk. "As a bonus, I know I'm safe tonight."

"Is that a fact?"

"My name hasn't come up at all. I've just been hearing one or two names from both opposing factors." Yori replied. "The hardest part is deciding which one to side with."

Bianca folded her arms. "She's confident NOW." She said. "We'll see if that changes."

"Carly, who are the targets?" SSBFreak asked.

"You know what? I don't know. We're voting for someone on the opposing faction, but I have no idea how they're going to vote." Carly replied.

"Who are you voting for?"

"I don't even know that. There's a bit of a disagreement on target choices." Carly shook her head. "That being said, I don't want to be the odd one out."

"Liz, how do you think the vote will go down?" SSBFreak asked.

"It'll either lead to a tiebreaker or be a 4-2 split. For me, I hope it's the former." Liz replied.

"Okay. Before I continue, I need to ask: Inferno, you've got Immunity. Will you be giving it to someone?" SSBFreak asked.

"No way. I'm keeping it."

"With that, Inferno is safe and can't be voted out. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Liz, you're up."

Liz got up and left the hut to go vote. The redhead approached the table, took a deep breath and scribbled a name down before putting it in the urn.

Inferno wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I need to take you out before you start winning challenges, man." He said, having voted for Tokyo.

"I really wish I knew what I could do." Carly mused as she hesitantly wrote a name down and put it into the urn.

Yori was smirking as she wrote a name down. "I honestly don't care how the vote goes. It works for me either way." She said as she left.

Tokyo was also smirking as he wrote a name down. "Time for the idol to come into play." He foreshadowed.

Edwina, the last to vote, approached the table and quickly wrote a name down. Placing the ballot in the urn, she turned and left.

Once all six players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the ur and returned with it momentarily. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately."

"Hold up."

Everyone watched as Tokyo stood up, reached into his shirt and pulled out the Hidden Immunity Idol. "I've got an idol that I'd like to play." He said as the people around him showed shocked expressions.

"HE had it?" Grace asked.

"I thought Inferno did!" Bianca said.

Tokyo handed the idol over to the host, who inspected it. "This is indeed the Roka Immunity Idol. All votes cast against Tokyo are now void." SSBFreak said as Tokyo returned to his seat. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Tokyo. Doesn't count." Tokyo gave a smirk.

"Tokyo. Void." Grace and Bianca looked at each other.

"Tokyo. Invalid." Liz was smirking as well, seeing as how their plan had worked.

"Tokyo. Doesn't count." Liz and Tokyo glanced at Yori.

"…Next vote, fifth member of the jury and thirteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…" SSBFreak said, as the last two votes were for the same person.

"…Carly. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Carly sat in stunned silence. "I…I was a target? But…That doesn't make any sense!" She said. Nevertheless, she stood up, gathered her torch and brought it towards the host while Inferno sulked.

"Carly, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Carly's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"I need to prepare some questions…" Carly said as she left the hut.

Once Carly was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining five players. "Carly is gone and there are five of you left. However, we need to get rid of some more before we have our finale, which is only six days away." SSBFreak said. "You need to start thinking of how you're going to make it to the end, and who you want to take with you, because the people you take to the end can mean the difference between winner and runner-up. You can all head back to camp."

The five finalists stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Inferno brought up the rear, in deep thought. He naturally blamed himself for not thinking about the idol sooner, but he honestly wasn't expecting that. Of course, now that this had happened, it was time to start playing the game for real…

"_I got so close to the end that it's not even funny. Another week and I would have made it to the end." Carly groaned. "Well, I guess there are some things I can't control, such as the Hidden Immunity Idols. If that thing wasn't around, I'd still be in the game. Well, I guess the only thing I can do now is start wondering what to ask the finalists at the end…"_

**Voting History:**

**Carly – Liz and Tokyo**

**Tokyo – Carly, Edwina, Inferno and Yori (VOID)**

Author's Note: I know it's going to sound weird, but Carly has Beaker to thank for lasting as long as she did. She was originally the first post-merge boot, followed by Mugg, Luther and Grace/Bianca. However, I had a heck of a time trying to come up with a TDI or Viewtiful Joe character that I could use, and when I determined what the guest challenge would be and cast Psymon, I realized that I HAD to use Beaker. Because of this, Carly got moved up here and lasted longer.


	14. Days 34 to 36

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Carly just got eliminated because of Tokyo playing the Hidden Immunity Idol no one knew he had." Inferno folded his arms. "In addition, it's obvious by now that Liz is no longer interested in the alliance she had with me at the start. I'm going to have to talk to her about it tomorrow, maybe when she's alone."_

"Exactly how long have you had that idol, man?" Inferno asked Tokyo.

The ninja smirked in reply. "I found it before we merged and held onto it just in case. Liz told me a while later that it was the idol." He replied.

"Why would you guys go after Carly, though?"

"She was a jury threat and you had Immunity." Tokyo replied. "Why? Upset that I eliminated the alliance partner you're refusing to tell anyone you had in the first place?"

"_Since none of the others believed me when I first said that Inferno had a side alliance with Carly, I kinda figured separating them myself would be the only way to damage the alliance." Tokyo said. "Carly was nice enough to get some undecided jury votes, and I know that going to the end with her wouldn't end very well for any of us."_

"Just watch your back, man. I don't take stuff like this lightly." Inferno warned. "I hope you realize that I'm going to try my hardest to take you down in challenges."

"I look forward to it." Tokyo replied.

Meanwhile, Yori was off talking to Edwina by the shelter.

"I was hoping that wouldn't happen. Bianca and I were pretty much convinced that Inferno had the idol." Edwina said.

"It works out either way." Yori shrugged. "Carly was a big jury threat and we STILL outnumber the others 3 to 2."

"Would Inferno want to vote off Liz, though?"

"At this point, he doesn't have much of a choice."

"_I would have been okay with either Tokyo or Carly going, as even if Carly got eliminated, which she did, we still have the numbers." Yori said. "There's just one more alliance that needs to be separated, and I intend to take it apart before the finale. I know I'll have Edwina with me because she's alone otherwise, but Inferno's the only question mark."_

"So what do we do?" Edwina asked. "I guess the only thing we can do is wait and see what kind of results the next Immunity Challenge brings."

"Right. Quite frankly, now that the idol's gone, it doesn't really matter how it goes." Yori shrugged.

The five finalists decided to go to bed. If they didn't have a challenge the following day, then they would at least get some answers…

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 34)**

"_I was surprised when Tokyo put forth the suggestion to vote out Carly with the idol, but looking back at it, it makes sense." Liz said. "I'm sure Carly would have been able to get a number of undecided jury votes simply because she was nice. This late in the game, we need to decide who the big threats are."_

"So what's the plan now? I mean, we're in the final five, so we need to choose targets wisely." Liz pointed out.

"We need to target Inferno as soon as he doesn't have Immunity. If he makes it to the end, he's sure to get votes." Tokyo said. "But then again, I know you were aligned with him."

"I know. It would hurt to vote Inferno out, but if it's the only way, it's the only way."

"You're surprisingly easygoing nowadays." Tokyo pointed out.

"_It's good that Liz is on my side, but we need one more vote for a majority. If Inferno and Edwina vote against us, that means that Yori's the swing vote." Tokyo said. "Unfortunately, since she isn't being targeted, she's likely going to enjoy watching us squirm while we try to garner her vote come next Tribal Council."_

Meanwhile, Inferno was down at the fire pit, alone. Yori came over to him, smirking and her arms behind her back.

"You were very vocal towards Tokyo last night after Carly was eliminated." Yori pointed out. "Does this mean the two of you actually WERE in an alliance?"

Inferno paused. "Did Tokyo tell you?" He asked.

"Just after Luther was eliminated. I kind of agreed with him, but wasn't sure. Thanks for confirming it, by the way." Yori said, giving a thumbs-up. Inferno groaned. "Look, the fact remains that there are five people left, and there's still a concrete alliance in the game. You, me and Edwina need to split up Liz and Tokyo."

"I don't want to vote out Liz. What if Tokyo wins Immunity?"

"You don't have a choice at this point, pal." Yori shook her head.

"_Inferno doesn't seem to realize that the point to the game isn't about taking your friends to the end." Yori pointed out. "I've made it this far by keeping conflict alive and flying under the radar; Not by playing nice and making friends. There are only five of us left and the competition is only going to get more fierce."_

"Basically, if one of them wins Immunity, we target the other." Yori said. "You know you need my help in this, because you're going to be a major target as soon as you lose Immunity."

Inferno sighed. It was clear he was running out of ideas.

"_I've spent most of the game relying on my ideas and learning from the players around me. However, I think I'm starting to run dry." Inferno said. "If I had any other option, I would try to avoid Yori and her ideas, but it's getting to the point where it may be my only option. I don't want to do it, but what can I do?"_

"Just keep it in mind, Inferno. We're going to have an Immunity Challenge pretty soon, and you need to decide before that." Yori pointed out. "You need the votes."

Meanwhile, Edwina was walking through camp, looking around. While she was let down that the previous vote didn't go the way she wanted, she was happy for other reasons.

"_Making the final five is an incredible milestone for a huge fan of the show. We're down to the last week of the competition and I'm still here." Edwina said. "On top of that, I'm not being targeted and all of the Immunity Idols have been used. If I can survive another couple of rounds, I'll make the finals."_

Suddenly, Edwina spotted a large blanket on the ground, covered with food. Her eyes widened in realization before she turned and rushed off.

When Edwina ran back to the middle of the camp, the two pairs were still talking together. "They put out a feast for us! I think it's because we're the final five!" She said.

"Really?" Liz asked as she came over.

"Yeah! It's like a huge picnic over there!"

The final five went over to where Edwina was directing them and found the picnic lunch waiting for them. Needless to say, they were all thrilled.

"_The crew must have set out the lunch for us while we were asleep. How they were able to move so much stuff without waking us, I probably will never know." Liz shrugged. "I wasn't really thinking about that. After going a month on rationed food, having the feast was a welcome feeling."_

The five contestants sat around the big lunch on the blanket, eating the various foods that were placed out for them. All five of them were stuffed before too long, but that didn't stop a couple of them from trying to eat more.

"If you eat any more, you'll eat yourself to death." Tokyo pointed out.

"Man, we've been without a decent meal for so long. I'm enjoying this as much as I can." Inferno replied.

"_If there's one thing I'm not going to bother going against Inferno in, it's an eating contest. Watching him demolish lunch was almost unsettling." Tokyo folded his arms. "That being said, I ate as much as I could because I was really missing the taste of food besides fish, fruit and rice."_

"Why did they put out so much?" Liz asked. "It couldn't be just because we made the final five."

"It can't have something to do with a challenge. It's too late to have one today." Yori shook her head. "I don't see this as anything other than congratulations to us."

"I honestly don't care. We should just enjoy what they gave us." Inferno pointed out.

"_I'm glad we had the picnic lunch. It let all five of us hang around each other without any worries or strategic thinking." Edwina said. "It was just the five of us eating lunch together. It was nice to have a break from the game, if only for a bit. Unfortunately, things went back to the game as soon as we were done eating."_

After everyone was finished, Yori managed to get Edwina aside after Liz and Tokyo were gone. "Edwina, it looks like we've got Inferno voting with us." She said.

"Are you sure?" Edwina asked. "I've SEEN the show, Yori. Guys like him don't like getting bossed around."

"I know, but like I told you earlier, he doesn't have much of a choice at this point."

"_I don't want to sound cocky, but I'm comfortable that Inferno will vote with us at the next Tribal Council." Yori pointed out. "He's without any allies now that Liz is with Tokyo and he'll need all the help he can get if he loses Immunity. If he wants to go further, he'll need to vote with us."_

"Yori, just remember that I don't trust you or your word." Edwina said. "Not after everything you've done."

"That's fine, but I'm being truthful about this. My main goal is to take out alliances. I figured I wouldn't gain people's trust for it." Yori said.

"If you've just been playing to take out alliances, I'd hate to see what you're like playing the game for real." Edwina shook her head.

"It's not pretty."

Meanwhile, Tokyo was down at the shore as Liz approached him.

"Yori's talking to Edwina again. I think she might be trying to rally the others against us." Liz said.

"I wouldn't put it past her, but we need to decide how to work our way around this…" Tokyo shook his head.

"How? At worst, we're looking at a 3-2 minority and the idol's gone." Liz reminded.

"I know. We're just going to need to come up with another way."

"_It's going to be hard coming up with a way to survive this. Maybe If I win Immunity, I can convince the others to vote out Inferno." Tokyo said. "At the moment, that seems like the strategy most-likely to work, so I just need to make sure I win that challenge when we get there."_

"_I'm unsure of our chances in the game at this point. We're in a probable minority, and this late in the game, that's never a good thing." Liz reminded. "If we want to stay in the competition, we need to find a way to get by the defenses of the others. I just don't know how that's going to happen."_

Night eventually rolled in. Knowing that there would be a challenge the following day, everyone went to bed…

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 35)**

"_We're having a challenge today. Too bad I lost track of what day it was or else I could determine if it's Reward or Immunity." Yori mused. "Needless to say, if it's Immunity, everyone's going to be going after it, especially Inferno and Tokyo. I just hope it's a challenge that will benefit me."_

"Yori, I've seen you talking to Edwina. I hope you're not trying to branch off into another alliance." Tokyo said.

"Why should you care if I am? We were never aligned to begin with." Yori replied with a shrug.

"We spared you multiple times, Yori. You freaking owe us!"

"This is Survivor. I don't recall making sure you repay your debts being in the rules."

"_I'm regretting keeping Yori for this long. She's playing her own way and none of us can keep any tabs on her or keep her in check." Tokyo pointed out. "Even after Liz and I have saved her several times up to this point, she still seems perfectly willing to sell us out."_

"Looks like we've got some treemail. Time for the next challenge." Edwina said as she approached the camp with a letter.

"Great. Time to get started." Liz nodded. "What's it saying?"

"It's wondering if we have level shoulders." Edwina replied.

"Uh…What?"

"We'll worry about it when we get to the challenge." Tokyo shrugged it off. "We should probably head out and see what it is."

"Yeah. Let's go." Edwina nodded.

"_Usually, the treemail has some sort of hint that tells us what type of challenge it is." Liz pointed out. "However, this treemail's hint was even more vague than usual. None of us knew what to expect on our way to the challenge."_

"_Yori's got a point. If I don't win Immunity, I'm a big target. If this challenge is Immunity, I need to make sure I win it." Inferno said. "Most people here are still threats, but I've won three Immunities in a row. That will likely make me an even bigger threat. I need to take care of things quickly…"_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The five remaining players emerged from the jungle and stepped into a clearing. Seeing their mat on the ground, everyone walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we are bringing back a challenge from season one, although you will be doing it alone rather than with a partner." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a bunch of clay pots and five planks sitting aside. "You will each be given ten clay pots and a plank to carry them on your shoulders. Your goal is to carry your plank one hundred yards to the finish line, but you need to bring the clay pots with you. If you drop any, you need to come back for them when you bring the rest over the finish line. Whoever, brings all ten clay pots across the finish line first will win Reward, which is a fancy dinner for two at a distant resort location."

The five players looked amongst each other. Even after the picnic lunch yesterday, it was clear that they were wanting a good dinner.

"If you'll all take your positions at the starting line, we'll begin." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

The five finalists were lined up at the starting line, each holding a plank over their shoulders carrying ten clay pots. Some looked a little wobbly, but the castaways looked determined.

"Okay. For Reward, Survivors ready..." SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The five contestants each started down the path to the finish line, going at different speeds. Liz and Yori were leading the five, while Inferno was just behind them. Edwina and Tokyo were bringing up the rear, moving slower than the others but going at the same pace as each other.

"Edwina and Tokyo appear to be taking their time. They obviously want to make sure they don't drop anything." SSBFreak announced.

"Of course not. The last thing I want is to waste time coming back for dropped clay." Tokyo reminded.

The contestants continued moving towards the finish line, but as they were, Liz accidentally dropped one of her clay pots. Cursing her luck, Liz continued forward.

"I'll have to come back for that…" She muttered.

Shortly after, Inferno dropped a couple of clay pots. He tried his best to ignore it and pressed forward.

"Liz and Inferno just dropped some clay pots. When they cross the finish, they'll have to go back for them." SSBFreak announced. "As of now, since she's in the lead and hasn't dropped anything, Yori's currently winning."

By now, the leading contestants had travelled about twenty five yards, one quarter of the whole lane. Inferno was starting to ball behind Liz and Yori while Edwina and Tokyo were still bringing up the rear, although Edwina had now overtaken the ninja.

Liz started wobbling a bit, but she managed to keep her balance and keep any more of her pots from falling. However, in doing this, she had let Yori pass her. Liz quickly resumed her walking and tried to keep her plank balanced.

Meanwhile, Edwina started wobbling as well. She stumbled a bit, but Edwina managed to regain her composure and she managed to do it fast enough to keep Tokyo from catching up with her.

At the back of the pack, Tokyo pressed on, not going too fast to keep the clay pots balanced on his plank. He knew that he just needed Yori and Edwina to drop something in order for him to take the lead, but he just hoped that would happen at all.

The five castaways continued to make their way towards the finish line, slowly but surely. However, before too long, Liz and Inferno each dropped another clay pot, something else they'd both have to come back for in the end. The two Malabar players groaned and pressed on.

Suddenly, a clay pot fell from the edge of Yori's plank. The cyborg grunted and tried her best to ignore it.

"Yori drops her first piece while Liz drops her second and Inferno his third." SSBFreak said. "Because she's ahead of Tokyo and hasn't dropped anything, Edwina is now leading."

Before too long, Liz and Yori arrived at the fifty-yard mark of the race, meaning that they were halfway done their initial run. Inferno was starting to fall behind, but he was still a good ways ahead of Edwina and Tokyo.

"Okay. I just need to keep myself from dropping anything and I'm good." Edwina muttered to herself. "If I can just stay ahead of Tokyo…"

"Come on, Edwina. Drop something." Tokyo mused quietly from behind the person ahead of him."

Liz wobbled again, but the rocker girl managed to keep her footing. "I'm not dropping another pot." She muttered. "I can't afford it."

Inferno saw that he was starting to gain ground on Liz and Yori and picked up the pace a little bit. The clay pots remaining on his plank wobbled a bit, but they quickly settled and stayed put, allowing the disco fanatic to keep his pace.

Yori suddenly dropped her second pot. The cyborg still tried her best to ignore it as she continued on.

A little bit further and the leaders reached the seventy-five yard marker. By now, Yori was ahead of Liz, and Inferno was catching up to the two. Edwina and Tokyo, Edwina in front, were at the back and still hadn't dropped anything.

"Just a little further…" Tokyo said. "If Edwina doesn't drop something soon, I'll need to move faster."

Inferno suddenly dropped another clay pot and cursed his luck again. "What is it with me?" He asked himself. "I'm dropping more than anyone else."

"As of now, Inferno has dropped more clay than anyone, although both Liz and Yori have dropped a fair share. Edwina and Tokyo still haven't dropped anything, but they're far behind the others." SSBFreak announced.

It took a bit, but Yori managed to cross the finish first, carrying eight clay pots on her plank.

"You can drop the pots off here, but you need to go back and collect the two you dropped." SSBFreak said.

"I know. I just need to hurry." Yori nodded as she rushed off.

Liz crossed the finish line shortly after Yori took off. She also had eight pots on her plank.

"Liz, you need to go back for the pots you dropped."

"I know." Liz nodded as she turned and went off.

While Yori and Liz were gathering their pots, Inferno crossed the finish line, carrying six pots on his plank.

"You've got your work cut out for you, Inferno. You still need four pots."

"I'm working on it." Inferno nodded.

With the three leaders back on the field, this left things wide open for Edwina and Tokyo. Seeing that they were both close to the finish, they started moving faster, but despite Tokyo's best efforts, Edwina crossed the line first.

"I didn't drop any of them!" Edwina said happily.

SSBFreak nodded. "The challenge is over! Edwina has all her pots!" He announced. "Edwina wins Immunity!"

The three players gathering their dropped pots on the field let out a collective groan as Edwina celebrated.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Edwina. You will be going to the resort location to have dinner and will return tomorrow for Immunity." SSBFreak said. "However, the dinner is for two. You can choose to take someone from camp or go with someone that was booted pre-merge."

"No question about it. I'll take Renaldo." Edwina said.

SSBFreak nodded and turned to the others. "Edwina has decided to go on the Reward with Renaldo, so none of you will be going with her. I don't have anything else to give you except advice to do better in the Immunity Challenge tomorrow." SSBFreak said. "You can all head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Edwina won Reward and decided to take someone that got eliminated pre-merge. It sucks that she didn't take any of us, but I can understand it." Inferno said. "Edwina wouldn't likely take Liz or Tokyo and she isn't real close with Yori and I, so of course she'd go with the friend she had for most of the pre-merge game."_

"Okay. This could actually work out." Yori said. "Because the two of us are still here, maybe we can keep an eye on the others."

"What good would that do?" Inferno asked. "You can't plan for challenges and the idol's already been used so there's no sense in making another fake. If you ask me, I think the only thing we can do now is just wait for tomorrow's challenge and try to keep the others from winning."

"There has to be something." Yori said. "There isn't a time in the game where you can do nothing at all."

"_Inferno's too easy-going, even when he's in a minority. It seems that, if he thinks there's nothing he can do, he just won't try." Yori folded her arms. "Well, I'm not him. I, for one, am going to see if there's anything I can learn from the others. Maybe I should try to make it look like I'm getting in good with them…"_

Meanwhile, Liz walked over to the shelter, where Tokyo was sitting.

"What do you think there is to do?" Liz asked. "We can't really do much other than wait for the challenge tomorrow."

"I know. Makes me wish the idol was still in play and we could make a fake one." Tokyo said.

"How would that help?" Liz asked. "Tomorrow's council is the last time it could be used anyway."

"I know, but it would still help us in this situation." Tokyo sighed.

"_It sucks that Liz and I are basically sitting ducks unless we can pull something off. As of now, the only thing we can do is hope we can split the vote from the other three players." Tokyo pointed out. "The saving grace we have is that, if I win Immunity, Inferno may not want to vote for Liz, so we'll have to hope that's the outcome we end up with."_

"_Tokyo and I are running on the hope that something will come up before or after the challenge tomorrow." Liz said. "All I know is that if we don't find something soon, we're in serious trouble."_

**(Resort)**

"Wow! This place is cool!" Edwina said as she walked into a lounge area of a resort. She could see the dinner table she would be sitting at, but she was looking around for something else. Or rather, someone.

"I couldn't have arrived first. You here, Renaldo?" Edwina asked aloud.

"Uh…Hi, Edwina."

Edwina turned and smiled widely when she saw the familiar face (or lack thereof) of Renaldo entering the scene. Other than the bandages wrapped around his torso, he looked no worse for wear.

"Renaldo!" Edwina said as she threw herself at her friend and wrapped her arms around him in a death hug. "You have no idea how worried I was about you when you left!"

"The host told you I was recovering, though. Didn't he?" Renaldo asked.

"Yes, but that didn't make me worry any less." Edwina said. "It's good to see you're alright."

"_It was great finally seeing Renaldo again. After I found out that winners of the Reward Challenges could go with pre-merge boots, I knew I wanted to win one myself." Edwina said. "I almost wanted to win Reward more than Immunity and some points. It puts my mind at ease seeing Renaldo walking around looking fine other than the bandages."_

The two sat at the large dinner table together and started eating. They talked as they ate and the meal stretched out into a couple of hours before they even realized it.

"Who's still in the game?" Renaldo asked.

"It's me, Yori, that ninja guy with the funny name, the disco-lover and the redhead rocker girl." Edwina said. "How about you? What are things like on your end?"

"I'm recovering nicely. The doctors say I should be making a full recovery real soon." Renaldo nodded. "A few of the other pre-mergers are nice to me because of the injury, but Det's still holding a grudge and insisting he was right."

Edwina sighed. "I'm sorry all that happened, Renaldo. It should have been me that went that night. Not you." She said.

"You're still in the game, Edwina. There's no way I'd be able to match your current placing." Renaldo said. "Besides, you can't feel down about it. You can't let an accident ruin your game."

Edwina sighed again, this time with a smile. "Thanks, Renaldo."

"_Now I remember why I liked hanging around Renaldo so much. Talking to him made me feel a lot better and he's glad that I'm still here." Edwina nodded. "It's good to see that he's recovering from that freak accident and he doesn't feel bad that he got eliminated because of it."_

_Renaldo fidgeted. "Uh…No, I don't want to tell Edwina that whole accident was done on purpose. I don't want to ruin Edwina's game by making her feel bad about what happened." He admitted. "I mean, she'll find out when she watches this back, but that won't be until after the season's over. I…I just want to keep it a secret from her until then."_

Sooner than later, it was night. The final five decided to go to bed, knowing that there was an important Immunity Challenge the following day.

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 36)**

"So what's the plan?" Liz asked. "We need to make sure at least one of us will win Immunity."

"Or at least keep Inferno from winning it." Tokyo said. "If we can do that, we may be able to convince the other girls that he's too big of a threat to keep in the game."

"Over you?"

"He's the one who's gone on an Immunity streak." Tokyo shrugged.

"_Convincing Edwina and Yori that Inferno's a bigger threat will be no easy task, but frankly, we're out of ideas." Tokyo said. "The only way to make them see that Inferno is a threat is to keep him from winning Immunity, but we'll just have to see what type of challenge it is when we get treemail."_

"_I never thought it would come down to this. At the start of the competition, Inferno and I were on the same side, and now we're against each other." Liz said. "I know it's part of the game, but the fact that we're against each other now shows that anything can happen here."_

"Looks like we've got treemail, guys." Inferno announced as he walked into camp.

"Time to get serious." Liz nodded. "What's it asking?"

"It's wondering how well we've been paying attention to the game." Inferno replied.

"Okay, what?" Tokyo asked.

"A game-related trivia challenge." Yori said with a smirk. "I certainly hope you guys remember what's happened around here since we started."

"_This could be fun. I have a good handle on what's been going on, so long as it pertains to my tribe." Yori said. "So long as the others haven't been paying attention, I should be good. And you know what? With everything that's happened around here, I doubt anyone's been paying attention THAT much."_

"_Okay. This could be good. I was paying attention to stuff a lot back on my first tribe, so if I get some questions like that, I'll get them no problem." Inferno pointed out. "However, I don't know what's been going on at the other tribes, so I just need to guess correctly and hope the others haven't been paying attention."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

Inferno, Liz, Tokyo and Yori emerged from the jungle and walked onto another clearing. Seeing their mat on the ground, they all went over and stepped on.

"Before we begin, let's bring back Edwina, who is returning from her Reward." SSBFreak said.

Edwina approached from the side, smiling and greeting everyone as she joined the others.

"Welcome to the next Immunity Challenge, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will find out if you've been paying attention to the events that happened throughout the game." SSBFreak explained. "I will ask you questions on whether a particular event happened before or after another event. If you get a question right, you will get a point. There are seven questions in total, and whoever answers the most right will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

Everyone knew that the challenge basically came down to wild guessing and their knowledge of the game. People tensed up, hoping they knew enough.

The five players were handed two tablets, one marked BEFORE and one marked AFTER, and stood in a horizontal line, waiting for the challenge to begin.

"Okay. For Immunity, here's the first question…" SSBFreak said. "Did Det have his little escapade with Bianca before or after Claire was voted out?"

Although two of the players wasted no time in answering, the other three hesitated. In the end, Edwina and Yori were holding up their After tablets.

"Det approached Bianca on Day 5, two days after Claire was eliminated." SSBFreak said. "Edwina and Yori get a point."

"That was almost TOO easy." Edwina said.

"Here's the next question…" SSBFreak said. "Was the second FAKE Immunity Idol used before or after Renaldo was eliminated?"

People had to wonder about this one, as they had no idea what happened on their unmerged tribes. They held up their answers after taking a guess. Edwina, Inferno and Tokyo were holding up Afters.

"The second FAKE idol was used by Mugg on his elimination night, which was after the merge and after Renaldo was long gone." SSBFreak said. "Inferno and Tokyo get a point while Edwina gets her second. As of now, Liz is the only one without any points."

"Come on. Give me something I can answer." Liz muttered.

"Here is the third question." SSBFreak said. "Did you guys have your team puzzle challenge before or after the tribes were dissolved?"

No one had to think about this and everyone held up Afters.

"The puzzle challenge you guys must remember well because that was one of the challenges Grace and Kayo spent at each other's throats, which only happened after the dissolve." SSBFreak said. "Everyone gets a point. Edwina has three, Liz has one and everyone else has two."

"Kinda hard to forget, man." Inferno supplied.

"Here is the fourth question…" SSBFreak continued. "Did Liz and Mugg befriend each other before or after Renaldo was eliminated?"

It took a bit of thought, but everyone held up their answers. Liz, Tokyo and Yori were holding up Befores.

"Both events happened in the same episode, but Liz and Mugg indeed befriended each other before Renaldo was injured." SSBFreak said. "Liz, Tokyo and Yori each get a point. Edwina, Tokyo and Yori are tied at three while Inferno and Liz have two."

"Okay. Still in this." Tokyo nodded.

"Here is the fifth question…" SSBFreak said. "Was the first FAKE idol used before or after Grace abandoned Yori's alliance?"

Everyone thought for a few moments, trying to remember when those particular events happened. Everyone held up their answers, showing that Tokyo and Yori were holding Befores.

"Lucy was the one to try and use the first fake idol, and Grace didn't leave Yori's alliance until after Renaldo was eliminated. Tokyo and Yori each get a point, still tying for the lead."

"This is going to be close." Yori said.

"Here is the sixth question." SSBFreak said. "Was the first fake idol crafted before or after Day 10?"

The finalists thought for a moment, but put up their answers. Tokyo and Yori were the only ones holding up Afters.

"The Malabar Tribe was dispersed by Day 10, and the first fake idol was crafted by Pierre before that." SSBFreak explained. "Edwina, Inferno and Liz get a point. We have a three-way tie with four points while Inferno and Liz each have three."

"That's a relief." Liz shook her head.

"Here's where we stand. I have one question left and there are two people behind. They need to get it right while the leaders get it wrong in order to stay in the game. Here's the last question." SSBFreak said. "Was the first REAL idol used before or after Roka's third loss?"

The group thought hard, wondering when that was and what Roka had done up until then. Everyone held up their answers. Inferno and Tokyo were the only ones holding up Afters.

"Roka's third loss eliminated Lucy, and Renaldo was the first to use a real idol. Inferno got it right, but it hardly matters since Tokyo did as well!" SSBFreak said. "The challenge is over! Tokyo wins Immunity!"

"Alright! I did it!" Tokyo cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Tokyo. You have a one-in-four shot at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed Tokyo the Immunity necklace.

"It took me a long time, but I finally won it." Tokyo nodded.

SSBFreak looked at the other four players. "Tokyo is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing all of you tonight at Tribal Council, where you will again vote someone off. You need to determine who will be going home, especially since we're rapidly approaching the finale." He pointed out. "You have the rest of the day to make your decision. You can all head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_I did it. I finally did it! It took almost the entire post-merge game, but I finally won Immunity over Inferno!" Tokyo cheered. "Now that he's vulnerable for elimination, Liz and I need to start pitching the idea to Yori. If we can just get her vote this once, we'll be able to take back the game."_

"Yori, we may not get another chance like this. Inferno doesn't have Immunity, and that means we have the chance to get rid of him." Tokyo said. "We know you've been talking to Inferno, but we need your vote tonight."

"I'll admit that it's tempting. Inferno COULD go on another Immunity run for the rest of the challenges." Yori reasoned.

"He's the biggest threat. Please, just vote with us." Liz half-pleaded.

"_I hate doing this, especially since Inferno would likely be a friend outside the game. However, since Tokyo has Immunity, I'll be the logical target for the others." Liz reasoned. "Inferno and I will basically be lobbying against each other now, and we're basically counting on the untrustworthy person to vote with us."_

Yori wandered off as Liz looked at Tokyo. "This could be bad. She may not vote with us." She pointed out.

"Inferno's the biggest threat left. No one can deny it." Tokyo said. "Yori plays strategically, so hopefully, she'll see the strategic logic in voting him out."

"I still don't trust her." Liz sighed. "Man. I can't believe it'll come down to me and Inferno. I really don't want to do this."

Tokyo paused. "There may be something we can do." He said.

"What? The idol's already gone!"

"Just trust me on this."

"_This is going to be a huge risk for me, but if I can pull it off, both Liz and I will be here." Tokyo said. "I just hope it works…"_

Yori, in the meantime, walked over to Inferno. "Feeling a little nervous about tonight?" She asked with a smirk.

"Yes, and I'm sure you're loving watching all of it." Inferno said.

"You know it. Seriously though, I thought you'd like to know that both Tokyo and Liz are voting for you tonight." Yori said.

"Even Liz?"

"_Man. The votes are going to be between Liz and I tonight. I don't want to vote against her and I'm sure she doesn't want to do the same to me, but it has to be done." Inferno said. "Liz is indeed a jury threat, and if I go to the end with her, I'd probably lose."_

"Who are you voting for? You're voting with Edwina and I, right?" Inferno asked.

"I don't know. Tokyo gave me a lot to think about, you know." Yori replied. "I guess we'll just have to see at Tribal Council."

"_The best part about all of this is that no one's even considering me. They could all easy gang up on me and vote me out unanimously, but I know they won't because they want my vote." Yori pointed out. "I'm basically going straight to the Final Tribal Council with no questions asked."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The final five walked into Tribal Council, again carrying their torches. Seeing that the number of available stumps was down to five, everyone found a seat and sat down.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Mugg, Luther, Grace, Bianca and Carly, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Carly followed the other jurors into the hut. The orange Muppet was wearing a white lab coat, a green blouse and a pair of new pants. Her ponytail was gone and her red hair hung around her shoulders.

"Remember that they are only here to watch the outcome of the council. Once again, you are not to address them and they won't address you." SSBFreak said as he started asking questions. "Edwina, how was your Reward?"

"It was great. I was able to see how well Renaldo was recovering and it felt good to see him okay." Edwina nodded. "I know you mentioned that he was recovering, but it's just one of those things I wanted to see for myself."

"Tokyo, you won your first Immunity. How does that feel?"

"I feel elated, to say the least. It took me this long to win Immunity because of Inferno's streak and we finally had a challenge I beat him on." Tokyo said.

"Would you be a target if you didn't have it?"

"Yeah. He and I are the strongest guys here."

"I'm surprised it took him this long, to be frank." Luther shrugged.

"Inferno's stronger." Grace pointed out.

"Keep telling yourself that, kid."

"Inferno, you don't have Immunity. Are you worried?" SSBFreak asked.

"Kinda. With Tokyo having Immunity, the main targets tonight are Liz and myself." Inferno said. "I know it can go either way, and I hope I'm still here when we're done."

"It's between him and Liz?" A surprised Grace asked.

"It had to come eventually." Bianca shrugged.

"Who are you relying on for the vote?" SSBFreak continued.

"Yori. Right now, it's Liz and Tokyo against Edwina and myself for votes. Yori's smack dab in the middle." Inferno pointed out.

"Liz, you and Inferno appeared to get along when we started. What happened?" SSBFreak asked.

"After Grace excluded me from things, I just found myself veering towards Tokyo for help, especially since he lost Luther shortly after I lost Mugg." Liz said. "Plus, Inferno had this side-alliance going with Carly, so I felt I needed one as well to keep myself afloat."

"Has that worked?"

"Definitely. It's worked for a few Tribal Councils thus far."

"Including the one where I was ousted." Carly rolled her eyes.

"Yori, which way are you leaning for the votes?"

"I don't know." She said with a smirk. "I mean, Liz is a bigger jury threat, but this is the first time since Inferno's streak began where he doesn't have Immunity. I could really go either way."

"She totally knows which way she's voting." Luther shook his head.

"Well, I think that's enough questions this time. Before we continue, I have to ask." SSBfreak said. "Tokyo, you have Immunity. Are you giving it up?"

Tokyo looked at Liz, who shook her head. "Yes. I'm giving it to Liz." He said.

Everyone was stunned at the announcement and Liz frantically shook her head. "No! Tokyo, don't do this!" She said. Tokyo handed her the necklace anyway.

"Why did he just do that?" Luther asked.

"With that, Liz is safe and cannot be voted out." SSBFreak said. "However, before we continue, I have to ask: Tokyo, why are you giving up Immunity?"

"It's a risk, mainly to get the attention of the swing vote." Tokyo said. "Giving Immunity to Liz, a jury threat, will ensure that it will come down to me and Inferno, and that means Yori will have to choose which of us is more-threatening in the end."

"And you think that's Inferno?"

"He's won the majority of the Immunity Challenges by this point." Tokyo said before smirking. "Like I said, now that the vote's come down to this, I'm sure she'll have a hard time choosing a target."

"Okay. It's time to vote. Edwina, you're up."

Edwina got up, left the hut and went over to the voting table. She quickly wrote a name down. "I hope Yori comes through." She said as she voted and left the table.

Liz walked up to the table and voted, placing her ballot into the urn. "Why did Tokyo do that?" She asked as she left for the hut again.

Tokyo wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "If this doesn't work, we're up the creek." He said, having voted for Inferno.

Yori was smirking as she wrote a name down. She didn't take as long as other people would have thought to vote.

Inferno wrote a name down and showed it, revealing Tokyo's name. "I gotta give you props. That's actually a pretty good idea you had." He said.

Once all five players voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it momentarily. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forth their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Inferno." Inferno was silent.

"Tokyo." Like Inferno, Tokyo was silent.

"Tokyo." No one blinked.

"Inferno." Everyone in Tribal Council knew that everything came down to one vote. "Last vote, sixth member of the jury and fourteenth person voted out of Survivor: Cental Hub…"

"…Tokyo. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Tokyo sighed and stood up as Liz shook her head. "It's fine. I did well." He said as he approached the host.

"Tokyo, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Tokyo's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Time to work on some questions." Tokyo said as he left the hut.

Once Liz was out of sight, SSBFreak turned to the remaining four players. "And so, we have our final four. However, we can't have that many enter the final Tribal Council, so we need to have some more challenges." SSBFreak said. "There are three days left in the competition, and it's time to decide which people around you are the biggest threats. I'll give you time to think about it, but remember that you need to choose soon. You can all head back to camp."

The final four stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. No one was really thinking about anything other than the game. There were only three days left and there was still at least one more elimination to worry about. They just needed to figure out how to last until the final day…

"_36 days is amazing for a guy like me considering I'm not taken seriously where I come from. It just sucks that I went out the way I did." Tokyo said. "Liz and I didn't have much of a chance without the idol, and there's nothing I can do about it now, even though I was hoping my Immunity sacrifice would sway Yori. I know who's getting my vote, but I worry of what I'll do if she doesn't make the final Tribal Council…"_

**Voting History:**

**Tokyo – Edwina, Inferno and Yori**

**Inferno – Liz and Tokyo**

Author's Note: And so, Tokyo's risk doesn't pay off in the end and he gets voted out. Coming into this, I tried to make Tokyo entertaining since it's hard to make a physical threat fun to watch. A lot of people just overshadowed him in the personality department and I didn't have anywhere else to put him.

Originally, Tokyo was going to lose to Inferno in a fire-making tiebreaker, but I realized that since Tokyo would likely WIN a tiebreaker, I had to let him get voted out normally.


	15. Days 37 to 38

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

Liz was silent as the final four returned to camp. While no one else was real talkative at the moment, Liz seemed to be in the deepest of thoughts. Seeing as she had just lost her last real ally, she knew she'd have an uphill battle.

"_With Tokyo gone, I'm pretty much by myself unless I can somehow get some spare votes from the others." Liz admitted. "However that vote we just had proves to me that the others are in a solid enough alliance to go to the end with each other. I'm worried not even Inferno would join me now."_

The four players sat around the campfire, looking amongst each other. It was clear that the tension was thick and no one seemed to want to talk first.

Edwina decided to try and break the ice. "So…This is it, eh? The final four." She asked.

Inferno gave a nod. "Yeah. I suppose it is."

"Man."

"_You would normally expect people to be glad when they make the final four, but that doesn't seem to be the case here." Edwina said. "None of us seem to particularly like each other. Liz and Inferno are at odds now that they aren't on an alliance, I think they're both huge threats and no one here likes Yori. In all honesty, it almost seems like this is the least-likely final four you could have."_

"_Man. The final four we have could leave something to be desired. I would personally like to take out Yori now, but I know I'll have a struggle beating Edwina or Liz in the end." Inferno pointed out. "It's kinda weird, but there's nothing any of us can do about it now. My best bet is to take Liz out and hope I can score jury votes over Edwina."_

"So what now?" Liz asked. "There are only a few days left."

"I know. We could either have a final two or a final three, depending on the challenges we get." Edwina pointed out. "I guess we'll have to see what happens tomorrow."

"Looking forward to seeing what we deal with." Inferno said with a smirk.

"Yes. It'll be interesting regardless of what will happen afterwards." Yori agreed.

"_I made it to the final four and I still don't appear to be targeted. If I can make the finals, that fact will be my main ammunition against the jury." Yori said. "Now I just need to think about which of the other three will be the best target to go after first…"_

Knowing that the competition still wasn't over yet, the final four decided to go to bed a prepare for the next day…

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 37)**

"_I've spent a little bit wondering how the next few days are going to go. If we don't have a challenge at all today, we'll likely have a final three." Edwina said. "It's the same if we have a Reward Challenge. However, if we have Immunity today, we'll likely be having a final two. We need to decide who to take to the end, but we won't know who the targets are until someone wins Immunity."_

Edwina looked up from her seat at the fire pit and saw Liz coming over. "I'm guessing that you want my vote?" She asked.

"Edwina, you know that I'm going to be trying my hardest to keep the next Immunity out of Inferno's hands." Liz said. "If you or Yori win the next Immunity, you need to help me vote out Inferno."

"I know he had that streak of wins, but I don't think that really makes him a jury threat." Edwina reasoned.

"Oh, really? How about this? Inferno has Carly's vote and likely Grace's as well. If I go, Tokyo will probably vote for him because they've been rivals. That's three votes out of the current six jurors." Liz explained.

"_I don't want to risk going against Inferno in the finals, which probably makes me sound like a bad person since we started out as friends. If we both make it, there's a chance he'll win." Liz pointed out. "Because of this, I need to keep the win out of Inferno's hands while trying to get it myself."_

After Liz was gone, Yori came over. "Something tells me that she's been wanting your vote." She said with a smirk.

"You're enjoying watching her squirm, aren't you?" Edwina accused.

"Hey. She was far too comfortable for too long, even after the whole incident with Grace. Now that she's without any allies, she's going to be begging us to vote with her." Yori said.

"She hasn't been comfortable for very long. She abandoned her old alliance with Grace because of how she was being treated and now I don't think even Inferno is thinking of joining her again."

"_By making people uncomfortable around each other, it means that less attention will be given to me. Taking out Liz's ally just made her focus on Inferno." Yori said. "I was the one that wanted the two of them separated in the first place and Liz still guns for Inferno. I frankly don't even care what happens at this point because I know I'm a lock for the finals."_

"Looks like we've got treemail, guys." The others watched Inferno walk into camp with a letter.

"So we DO have a challenge today." Edwina said. "What's it say?"

"It's wondering how lucky we feel." Inferno replied.

"A luck-based challenge this late in the game?" Yori asked.

"They obviously don't want to play to anyone's strengths." Inferno replied.

"_Luck or not, I need the win if it's Immunity." Inferno said. "Now that Tokyo's gone, I'll likely be the prime target if I don't have it."_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The final four emerged from the jungle and onto a huge clearing. Seeing their mat on the ground, the four players walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to the final Reward Challenge of the season, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will test your luck at finding the same object." SSBFreak said. Everyone became suddenly aware of the huge field of treasure chests littering the clearing. "Behind me are two-hundred treasure chests. You will each be given a key, and will be tasked with finding the chest that it opens. Your keys will only open one chest and you're all looking for the same one. The first person to unlock the chest will win Reward, which is a huge advantage in the final Immunity Challenge."

The final four looked at the vast array of chests, knowing that it would be hard just to find the only chest that the keys would open. Nevertheless, each of the four players was handed identical keys.

"Okay. For Reward, survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "Go!"

The four players quickly rushed into the field of chests. Yori and Liz quickly started with chest close to where they started, but Inferno and Edwina rushed down to the other end of the field of chests to start their search there.

Liz pulled her key from a chest that wasn't opening and moved to the next one. She garnered the same result as the previous chest. "I have a feeling this could take a while." She noted.

Yori was having similar bad luck and removed her key from the keyhole of her third chest. "The right chest is probably somewhere in the middle of the field." She reasoned.

"I don't see you going to check it out." Liz taunted.

"Well excuse me for being too cautious."

Edwina was wasting no time in her searching and had tried to open more chest than any of the others. However, this didn't mean that she was making any progress.

"I need to keep going." She muttered as she went to the next chest.

Inferno had started in a far corner and was working his way in. Seeing that Edwina was checking a nearby chest, he told himself not to check anything past it.

"If it won't open for her, it won't open for me." He reasoned.

The four players continued to attempt to unlock the field of chests that they were given, but nothing was working. None of the keyholes on the chests would let any of the keys open them. This continued for several minutes.

"The challenge has been going on for ten minutes now and none of you have found the right chest." SSBFreak said. "Yori, what are your opinions on challenges like these?"

"I don't like them. It all comes down to luck." Yori shook her head.

"Hey, we don't want all of the challenges to play to someone's strengths." SSBFreak shrugged.

"I know, but I still hate it."

"Fair enough." SSBFreak replied. "Inferno, what are you thinking at the moment?"

"The only thing I'm thinking is how much all of us need this advantage and the fact that it basically comes down to luck is even harder." Inferno replied.

"Edwina, what's your strategy for a game that's based around luck?" SSBFreak asked.

"I'm trying to keep my eyes on everyone else while I'm searching so I know what chests they've searched." Edwina replied. "At the moment, we appear to be searching systematically."

"Will that make a difference?"

"It'll keep me from wasting time searching chests that the others have tried."

"Liz, what do you think the advantage is for winning this challenge?" SSBFreak asked.

"None of us know, but what we probably DO know is that the advantage will be a serious help for the next challenge." Liz replied as she moved to another chest.

"But you don't know what the challenge is to begin with."

"Doesn't matter. It'll still be a help." Liz shook her head.

The four players continued to go through the field of chests, trying to find the lone one that their keys would open. Edwina appeared to be covering the most ground, but all four appeared to be going at similar paces around the field.

Yori pulled her key from the keyhole of another locked chest and moved on. "Someone has to be getting close by now." She mused to herself. "It can't take long for four people to go through a couple hundred chests."

Edwina was still wasting no time in searching for the right chest. She was still moving at a faster pace than the others, but was trying to make sure she didn't check a chest that had already been checked. She pressed on.

Liz was beginning to look frustrated that no one had found the right chest yet. She knew that the chest was likely somewhere in the middle, but if she left and came back, she'd forget where she was with the searching. Deciding not to waste time, Liz continued the way she was going.

Inferno was racing to the next chest in his path and tried unlocking it, again having no luck. Cursing himself, the disco fanatic continued searching by moving onto the next chest.

"You four have been searching for almost half an hour now and no one's come across the right chest yet." SSBFreak said. "Liz, did you think that this challenge would be this hard when we started?"

"It's not hard because we know what to do. It's just frustrating that we have to do all of this to do it." Liz shook her head in annoyance.

"Inferno, how well do you think you're doing?"

"It's impossible to tell with challenges like these." Inferno replied. "We know that one of us is in the right area, but we don't know which of us it is and we probably won't know until the right chest is found."

"Edwina, do you think you're getting closer to the right chest?" SSBFreak asked.

"It's a game of luck. None of us know where the chest is." Edwina shook her head. "Basically, we're just running around blind."

"Yori, does-"

"I got it! I found the chest!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to the voice. Inferno had stuck his key into a keyhole and twisted it, flipping open the chest he was at.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Inferno wins Reward!"

"Alright!" Inferno cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Inferno. As your prize, you will be given an advantage at tomorrow's crucial Immunity Challenge." SSBFreak said.

"You're still not telling us anything?" Inferno asked.

"Nope." SSBFreak said as he turned to the others. "To everyone else, all I can say is that you now need to try even harder to win tomorrow's challenge, because Inferno will have a leg up on you. You can all head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Winning that challenge was key to me. Now that I have this advantage, I'll likely do better in tomorrow's Immunity Challenge." A relieved Inferno said. "That being said, none of us know what the advantage or even the challenge is, so for all we know, the advantage could be only slight."_

"Now the only question is what type of challenge we'll have for Immunity and how will the advantage help me." Inferno said.

"Do you HAVE to rub it in?" Liz asked.

"Hey. I won the challenge. I think I earned it." Inferno replied with a smirk.

"You won a LUCK-BASED challenge that any of us could have won." Yori said flatly. "Yeah. Good job."

"_This isn't good. Inferno has the advantage and if I want to have any chance at staying, I need to keep him from winning Immunity." Liz pointed out. "I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I need to do it somehow."_

"Man. The contest is almost over. I can't believe I'm still here." Edwina shook her head.

"Hey. Two days left. We've all made it almost the entire way through." Inferno supplied.

"I know, but we're still not there yet."

"Then I suggest you all prepare for the challenge tomorrow." Yori said with a smirk.

"How?" Liz asked. "We have no idea what it'll be."

"Well, then you'd better get to practicing." Yori said.

"What about you?" Edwina asked.

"I'll prepare, but I know you guys are targeting each other." Yori replied. "I'll probably watch you guys practice for a bit."

"_This couldn't be better for me. I feel like I can say whatever I want so long as it doesn't tick the others off and they'll STILL go after each other." Yori said. "Both Inferno and will after each other before me because they know the vote will go one way or the other."_

"What do you guys think the challenge will be?" Edwina asked. "I'm guessing that it's going to be some kind of endurance challenge."

"No bet here." Inferno said. "They probably want a challenge any of us can win."

"I guess the only thing we can do is anticipate whatever they can throw at us." Edwina said. "I'm not sure how to prepare for that."

"Simple. You can't. You just need to hope that you can do the challenge without knowing it." Liz said.

"_I like to try and anticipate what you normally shouldn't be able to, and we're certain that the challenge will be some sort of endurance challenge." Edwina said. "That being said, we know that it's anyone's game, and the targets will be decided depending on who wins. I just hope I can pull it together and win the challenge so I can breathe a little easier."_

Night eventually rolled in and the final four decided to go to bed, anticipating the Immunity Challenge the following day…

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 38)**

"_We're going to have what will likely be the final challenge of the season today, although we don't know if the show will throw us a curve ball and have us vote two people off tonight." Yori admitted. "However, no matter what, it'll still be interesting for me to watch the outcome of, to say the least."_

"I assume you've been preparing yourself." Yori said to Liz.

"I'm not sure how exactly to prepare, but what about you? I don't see YOU preparing for anything." Liz pointed out.

"Because I know none of you guys will vote for me."

"What makes you say that? We can easily go behind your back and vote you out."

"That may be so, but then you'll face bigger threats against the jury." Yori said with a smirk. Liz simply sighed.

"_Yori has a point, as twisted as she is. I don't want to admit it, but we probably WON'T target her. Inferno and I are gunning for each other, and if I win the challenge, I don't see Inferno voting for Edwina." Liz pointed out. "We've all taken Yori so far into the game it would seem like our efforts were wasted if we get rid of her now."_

Meanwhile, Inferno was walking through camp alone. He knew things were riding on his performance in the challenge, so he knew he had to win.

"_I'm a little nervous. Even though I've got the advantage, it doesn't mean I automatically win the challenge." Inferno said. "The others will be trying even harder to win the challenge and I may get caught off guard, which is something I need to tell myself not to do."_

"Alright! We've got treemail!" Edwina said as she raced over with a letter.

"Time for Immunity, then?" Inferno asked.

"Not yet. It's congratulating us on making the final four, but it's saying that we need to pay our respect to everyone else." Edwina said. "After we finish, we'll go to the challenge."

"The Rites of Passage. Another milestone achieved." Inferno said.

"I know! It's awesome that we're actually going to do this!"

"_You know you've made it to the end when you get to do the path of fallen comrades. I was totally expecting to be one of the ones being respected, but now I'm the one respecting others!" Edwina cheered. "I hope I can do even better and make the finals, but we'll just have to see what type of challenge we get first."_

**(Rites of Passage)**

The four finalists walked onto a small beach, where they saw a large rowboat in the water. On closer inspection, they saw that the boat had a bunch of unlit torches in it, each one attached to a picture.

"I'm guessing we need to take the boat." Liz said.

"Yeah. It says that, on our way to the final challenge, we have to give our respects to everyone else and drop their torches in the water." Edwina read.

"Well, we may as well get started." Inferno said. "Everyone remember the order in which everyone left?"

"I'm sure it'll come to us." Yori said.

The four got into the boat and started rowing going towards a small island just off the coast of the main island while they paid respect to the others on route. Liz pulled the first torch into the air, revealing a picture of a girl with braids.

"Man. Tokyo told me what happened with Claire." Liz lamented. "I'm glad he and Luther got back at Lucy when they did."

"Why'd she go first, anyway?" Yori asked. "Other than the strong guys, she looked like the strongest."

"She apparently was. Remember that challenge they lost? Lucy blamed her and got her voted out after a tiebreaker."

"A tiebreaker on the FIRST Tribal Council?" A surprised Edwina asked.

"It's unfortunate, but it happened." Liz said as she dropped Claire's torch into the water. "At least, that's what Tokyo told me

"_Going first is never a good feeling, but I'm glad I had the chance to even play, although I wish I could have done better." Claire said. "I know I could have helped the team more, but Lucy and the others obviously didn't see it that way. Oh, well. What can you do?"_

Edwina frowned when she pulled a torch up with a picture of a brown-haired man with a blue helmet. "Det was a complete tool. He deserved to get kicked off when he did." She said.

"What happened with him?" Inferno asked.

"He appeared to be under some impression that Bianca was evil and made it his mission to convince us all of it." Edwina replied. "Needless to say, no one bought it."

"He's probably kicking himself for thinking it then, right?" Liz asked.

"Doubt it. According to Renaldo when I spent Reward with him, he was still as deluded as ever." Edwina shook her head as she dropped the torch into the water.

"_I still don't get it. Everyone here, players and production staff included, seems to think that I'm wrong about Bianca." Det said. "There's no way I could have been wrong! People can say whatever they want about me and my opinions, but I know I'm right. You'll all see in the end when Bianca is leading an invasion of Darns!"_

Yori held up the third torch, holding the picture of the older, green-skinned soldier. "I'm assuming the past tribe voted out this guy because he was old and weak?" She asked.

"Not exactly. There was an apparent argument between Luther and Tokyo. Luther wanted to vote off Lucy because she was a tyrant and Tokyo wanted to vote for Wilson because he was weaker." Liz replied.

"And Tokyo won out in the end, obviously." Edwina noted.

"Obviously. That being said, Wilson was apparently a better player that he seemed." Liz shrugged. "I never knew him, but Tokyo and Luther thought pretty highly of him."

"Not much you can do about it now, though." Yori shrugged as she tossed the torch into the water.

"_I wasn't expecting to do well coming into this, and I carried myself as far as I could. The odds were just stacked against me and there was nothing I could do." Wilson said. "However, I have to commend Carly for using the fake idol I created to oust Lucy when she did. I think that was probably the smartest thing I did out here."_

Inferno couldn't help but smirk as he held up Pierre's torch. "Man. Looking back at that night, I'm still laughing." He said.

"What exactly happened?" Edwina asked.

"Pierre pulled the emblem from our treemail box before council and tried to trick us into thinking it was real." Inferno replied.

"The emblems WERE idols, though." Liz pointed out.

"Sure, but HE didn't know that." Inferno said as he tossed the torch into the water. "No great loss, though. He dug his own hole and no one wanted to pull him out."

"_I can't believe that the emblems are the actual Immunity Idols. The fact that I got eliminated with it in my possession made me feel even stupider." Pierre groaned. "If I had known what I had, I could have easily demolished the competition. Now that I got eliminated the way I did, none of the other guys back home will ever let me live it down."_

Liz held Lucy's torch into the air. "Looking back, voting out Lucy when we did was super-satisfying and indeed was good for the tribe." He said.

"I hear she was a tyrant back on your tribe." Yori said.

"She was, and I saw that for the short time I knew her. She made herself the leader and tried to rule over the rest of us, not realizing we could take her out whenever we wanted." Liz said. "Luther hated her and wanted her gone as soon as possible."

"Then she tried using that fake idol and got herself eliminated." Inferno pointed out.

"Yeah. We never figured out where that idol came from." Liz shrugged. "However, I think voting out Lucy was beneficial in the long run."

"How so?" Edwina asked.

"Because the instant we did, Roka won all remaining Immunity Challenges." Liz smirked as he tossed the torch into the water.

"Don't remind me."

"_My tribe must have had a replacement leader that somehow managed to do a better job than me, because I didn't see anyone else from my tribe come to Loser's Lodge after me." Lucy said. "However, I still feel cheated and betrayed that they would vote out their leader like that. I guess none of them liked organization or something."_

Yori held up the next torch, that of Fleecy. "I didn't have anything against Fleecy when we started, but she became too nosy later on." She admitted.

"Why did you have her voted off?" Edwina asked.

"To be honest, I wanted to separate her and Bianca. The two of them were too threatening together and I figured Fleecy was the smarter player at the time." Yori said.

"I would have thought that you voted her out because she didn't have arms." Liz lifted an eyebrow.

"That was only part of the equation." Yori said.

"I guess it came back to haunt you, because I found Bianca to be a smart player." Inferno said with a smirk.

"Believe me. Fleecy was smarter." Yori said as she dropped the torch into the water.

"_I'm disappointed that I didn't go any farther, but at least my leaving cemented Yori as untrustworthy to Bianca." Fleecy said. "I don't know how well I would have done if Yori wasn't cast, but I'm sure I would have done better. I guess the bad thing about getting cast is that you can go at any time."_

Edwina sighed as she held Renaldo's torch up. "I still miss Renaldo, but at least I know he's getting better." She lamented.

"What happened to him?" Liz asked. "I still don't quite know."

"The guy fell on a rock on the way to Tribal Council and got stabbed." Yori rolled her eye. "Talk about clumsy."

"I still don't understand why to tried to KEEP him after all that." Edwina glared at Yori.

"The wound wasn't that bad. I think he was just overacting." Yori waved it off. "Besides, you know where he comes from. He's probably shrugged off much worse than that."

"Why would he overact an injury if it wasn't bothering him?" Inferno asked.

"I don't know, but I still think that was what happened." Yori said.

Edwina sighed again and dropped the torch into the water. "Well, I made it this far, so he wasn't eliminated in vain." She said. "That should count for something."

"_I don't regret stabbing myself in the slightest. It kept Edwina in the game and look how far she made it." Renaldo admitted. "I wish it didn't have to come to that, because despite my pessimism, I enjoyed myself out there. It was still worth it in the end, at least to me. I just hope Edwina can forgive me for what I did."_

Next was Kayo's torch. Inferno held it into the air. "To be frank, I didn't really like Kayo. I'm glad we went to separate tribes after the dissolve." He admitted.

"He wasn't that much better after he joined us." Edwina added. "He and Grace were constantly at each others throats. I'm surprised they didn't kill each other."

"They had me to keep them in check." Yori said.

"Fantastic job on that, by the way." Edwina rolled her eyes. "As soon as you tried to keep Renaldo, Grace left you and joined me."

"Why'd you get rid of him? I mean, I'm not complaining since I didn't really like him, either." Liz asked.

"We didn't really like him." Edwina shrugged.

"Yeah. Like I said, I'm glad he ended up on the other tribe." Inferno nodded as he dropped the torch into the water.

"_I probably should have seen the backstab coming, especially since it was my enemy that did it. I have no one to blame but myself for trusting her." Kayo said. "I was real close to the merge as well, so I feel even more cheated. I wish I could go back and do it again, but I guess some things just aren't meant to be."_

Inferno held up Mugg's torch and scratched his head. "Mugg kinda confused me. When we started, he came across as someone that wasn't as bright as the others." He admitted.

"He and I hit it off pretty well when we guys dissolved, though." Liz noted. "Grace and Kayo were keeping us from talking to each other, and we sorta got to know each other after the dissolve."

"Reasonable gameplay, though. I mean, Grace and Kayo didn't trust each other, so why would they trust the members of their opposing alliance either?"

"Well, one thing's for sure: Him going when and how he did pretty much severed the alliance between Grace and Liz." Edwina shook her head.

"Well, I don't regret doing what I did afterwards. Grace left me out of everything post-merge and I felt like a third-wheel." Liz informed.

"Yeah. I didn't care about voting Mugg out or not, but Grace overstepped the line there." Inferno shrugged as he dropped the torch.

"_I made the merge, but was the first one out. I really wish I could have gone further, but at least I'll be voting for the winner." Mugg said. "If I can take away anything from this, it's not to follow orders when there may be a better option under your nose."_

Liz held up Luther's torch. "Luther was Tokyo main ally pre-merge. It sucked to see him go when he did. I kinda liked him." He lamented.

"Hey, he was way stronger than anyone else. How could he NOT be targeted when the merge hit?" Inferno asked.

"All we needed was a couple of extra votes to keep him in, but it didn't happen." Liz retorted. "The fact that the vote wasn't unanimous showed that some were okay with keeping him."

"He would have demolished any strength task we had." Edwina said. "Being an Immunity Hog is never a good thing in a game like this."

"Perhaps we should be telling Inferno that." Yori said with a smirk.

"Very funny."

"I know he likely would have been targeted, but I still wanted to keep him around." Liz said as she dropped the torch. "That being said, maybe Tokyo wouldn't have made the move to join me for real if Luther hadn't gone."

"_I knew I was on borrowed time at the merge. Being such a physical threat would make me a target and I was ousted the instant I didn't have Immunity." Luther admitted. "No, there isn't anything I can do about it, but I'm still a little let down that I didn't end up doing any better."_

Yori held up Grace's torch. "Grace ended up digging herself deeper and deeper that no amount of scheming could pull her out." She said.

"She was a serious competitor at first, but leaving me, her oldest ally, out of the loop pretty much doomed her." Liz shrugged.

"She was okay pre-merge, but even I admit that her ideas post-merge weren't that great." Edwina said. "I told her multiple times to involve you, but she just ignored me."

"Man. That just sounds nothing like the Grace I knew from Malabar." Inferno shook his head.

"She changed. Maybe if she stuck with me, she would have lasted longer." Yori said as she dropped the torch.

"Keep telling yourself that." Edwina said.

"_I realize now that I made some mistakes that cost me the game. I made Liz angry and paid for it, so as much as I hate to say it, I probably had it coming." Grace said. "That being said, I know I could have taken any of the others if I made the finals. I feel that my skills were wasted by my eighth-place finish."_

Edwina shook her head as she held up Bianca's torch. "It was sad seeing Bianca go. After Grace left, we were outnumbered." She said.

"It was just by one vote, though. One vote that couldn't decide." Inferno glared at Yori.

"It was my mission to eliminate alliances and take out the people I considered threats." Yori said. "Bianca was aligned with multiple people, and that would have gotten her more votes at the end."

"I don't doubt that, but I still would have liked her to go further." Edwina shook her head.

"Bianca leaving was good for me, even though she wasn't someone Tokyo and I would have targeted at the time." Liz shrugged. "I don't have anything against her otherwise, though."

"Good, because I don't think anyone that made it that far did, either." Edwina finished as she dropped the torch.

"_I made the final seven, which is good when you consider the circumstances I had. I just wish I could have outlasted Yori." Bianca lamented. "I guess the others considered me a threat, which I suppose I can take away from this as a compliment. I don't have any regrets on how I played."_

Inferno looked at Liz as he held Carly's torch. "Why did you target Carly?" He asked.

"You had Immunity, everyone else was going after Tokyo, and you had a secret alliance with her." Liz said, arms folded. "Of course, that doesn't include her being nice enough to be a massive jury threat."

"I agree. I don't think any of us could have beaten her in the finals." Yori nodded.

"You're actually taking Liz's side?" Inferno asked.

"She's making a good point. If I didn't consider Tokyo a threat as well, I would have gone after her." Yori shrugged.

"Some help you are." Inferno said as he dropped the torch.

"You should know I'm not here to help you."

"_I feel good about how I did. I was targeted first, survived the council and lasted until the final six, where it took an idol to get rid of me." Carly said. "Overall, I'm satisfied with how I did and I loved the experience. I wish I could do it again, though. I would do it in a heartbeat."_

Liz held up the last torch, that of Tokyo. "I feel sorry for Tokyo. He GAVE me Immunity in a gamble and it didn't pay off." He said.

Edwina glanced at Yori. "I'm curious as to why you voted him out instead of Inferno." She asked. "You had the chance, but you didn't take it."

"I thought Tokyo was a bigger jury threat." Yori replied.

"Well, Tokyo kicked it into gear when Luther left. I have to respect him for that." Inferno shrugged. "He was my rival in terms of strength, but I just beat him out in the end."

"We didn't really have much of a choice, though." Edwina said.

"More like Yori didn't give you one." Liz said. "Well, regardless, he made the final five, so I hope he's proud of that." Liz said as she dropped the torch.

"_I almost made it through the entire competition, which is a massive accomplishment for me. I'm glad I was able to last as long as I did, but I wish I could have made it a little further." Tokyo said. "However, I'm satisfied with my performance and am glad that I wasn't blindsided. I would have felt bad if that happened."_

With the last torch in the water, the final four continued rowing to the small island. When they got closer, they saw that SSBFreak was standing on the shore, waiting for them.

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The final four walked onto the shore and over to their mat, which was laying on the beach.

"Welcome to the final Immunity Challenge of the season, Kalepa Tribe. Here, we will test your endurance and stamina to see which of you can last the longest in a repeat performance of an earlier challenge." SSBFreak said. "For this challenge, all you need to do is hold up some weights. We will start with fifty pounds and add more at specific intervals. The goal is simply to last longer than the others, and the person that lasts the longest will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

The final four were expecting an endurance challenge, but not one that involved heavy lifting. They knew things would get interesting.

"Inferno, since you won the advantage at Reward, you will always be holding up twenty pounds LESS than everyone else." SSBFreak said.

"Works for me." Inferno nodded with a smirk.

"If you'll all take your positions, we can start." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

All four of the remaining players were holding up their weights as the challenge started. Most of the players looked comfortable, but Edwina knew that she had almost no chance, even though she still looked okay with holding up fifty pounds.

"The challenge has started and you're all holding up the fifty pounds required to start, with the exception of Inferno holding up thirty." SSBFreak said. "Yori, how well do you think you can do in a challenge like this?"

"I've said it in the past. People act like Inferno and Tokyo were the only rivals here, but I'm just as strong as they are." Yori said with a smirk. "Since this is the final challenge, I think it would be interesting to see what would happen I showed them who really was stronger…"

"You sound confident."

"Like I said, I'm as strong as they are. I think everyone will be surprised when I win."

"Inferno, you have the advantage of holding up less weight. Will this help you?" SSBFreak asked.

"Definitely, but it won't be apparent until later on." Inferno replied. "Right now, no one can feel the burn of the weights, but once we start holding up over a hundred pounds, I'll be in better shape."

"Liz, will Inferno's advantage affect the rest of you in any way?" SSBFreak asked.

"It'll make life harder for us here, but it's not impossible to win." Liz said. "All it takes is a little determination and a lot of stamina."

"You think you can beat Inferno here?"

"I'm trying my hardest. That's for sure."

"Edwina, you seem to be at a disadvantage here." SSBFreak noted.

"No kidding. Why did you decide to have a strength-based challenge as the last one when there's someone like me here?" Edwina asked back.

"The challenges are decided ahead of time." SSBFreak shrugged. "All things considered, you look like you're trying."

"I know I'm probably not going to win, but I'm not going to give up altogether." Edwina shook her head.

"Well, I'll get back to you guys later to check up on you." SSBFreak said.

Time slowly ticked by for the four contestants. The first round of weights had already been added, increasing the load, but no one was dropping out. Time continued to move on and eventually another set of weights was added. Even through this, no one was dropping out.

"You guys have been standing there for twenty minutes and you're all still holding up the weights. I'm sure that, by now, some of you are getting a little tired." SSBFreak said. "Inferno, how are you feeling?"

"I'm starting to feel it, but I'm good. The others are holding up more, so I probably shouldn't be complaining." Inferno gave a shrug.

"Edwina, how are you holding up?" SSBFreak asked.

"The weights are starting to pull me up. I can hold them, but I just don't know for how much longer." Edwina shook her head.

"You're staying in it for as long as you can, though?"

"I didn't come here to quit challenges."

"Yori, there's something I've been wondering. That robotic arm of yours; Does it make you stronger?" SSBFreak asked.

"If you're wondering if I'm giving myself an unfair advantage, I'm not." Yori insisted. "Besides, my arm is just tougher than a normal arm. Not stronger."

"Is there a real difference?"

"There's a difference between punching a hole in the wall and being able to lift a two-ton truck, you know."

"Liz, what's going through your head?" SSBFreak asked.

"Absolutely nothing. I don't want to get distracted with thoughts here." Liz shook her head. "They'll throw me off and I'll likely drop the weights."

"I'll give you guys some more time and check back in with you in a moment." SSBFreak said.

Time crawled by for everyone, but they managed to hold onto their weights long enough for the next round to be added. The contestants were starting to look fatigued, but they looked okay for the most part.

"It's been thirty minutes and no one's dropped out, yet." SSBFreak said. "That's impressive in itself, but I know you guys are probably getting tired. Liz, are you still trying to keep thoughts out of your head?"

"Yep." Liz said simply.

"Uh…You want to add anything?"

"Nope."

"Fine. Be that way. Yori, how are you holding up?"

"I'm doing better than you may expect. Around this point, we're getting to the amount of weight I can bench-press back home." Yori said. "I can take more weight and still outlast everyone else."

Before anyone else had time to say anything, Edwina's grip slipped and her weights hit the ground.

"And with that, Edwina is the first one out."

Edwina sighed. "Well, I tried." She said.

"This leaves Inferno, Liz and Yori fighting it out for the final Immunity win. Judging by your faces, none of you are dropping out." SSBFreak said. He didn't get an answer, but the remaining three still looked determined. "Very well. I'll get back to you guys in a few minutes."

Time passed. The remaining three players managed to hold on long enough for the next round of weights to be added, and even managed to hold on for the next round to be added. The three remaining players were looking a little strained by this point, but they were managing.

"It's been fifty minutes and by this point you're all holding up at least a hundred pounds." SSBFreak said. "Inferno, are you feeling the weights now?"

"Definitely, but I can still hold more." Inferno assured. "I'm in this to win it, and I've still got the advantage."

"Yori, do you still think you can win?" SSBFreak asked.

"Of course. This isn't as bad as it looks." Yori said, although she still looked like she was beginning to struggle. "I can outlast both of them and I'll prove it."

"Liz, how are your arms holding up?" SSBFreak asked.

"How much did you say we were holding up?" Liz checked.

"You're holding up about 120 pounds."

"Then I can hold more. I just don't know how much more."

"Well, we'll see how comfortable you guys are when I add some more weights and check in with you later."

The three remaining players managed to hold on for several more minutes. The next round of weights was added, but when they were, Liz let go and caused her load to drop.

"Liz is out. It's now between Inferno and Yori."

"Those two are stronger than I thought." Liz sighed as she left to go stand by Edwina.

Knowing that it was just down to the two of them, Inferno and Yori exchanged glances, as if daring the other to drop first. Neither of them budged.

"Okay. You guys are still determined to win and we can all see that. I'll check back with you in a few minutes." SSBFreak said.

The remaining two players continued to hold on as more weights were added. The two continued to hold on and managed to last until the next round of weights was added as well. Everyone could tell both players were struggling to hold up their weights at this point.

"You two have been holding up those weights for well over an hour at this point and I can tell that you're both on the verge of dropping out." SSBFreak said as he turned to Edwina and Liz. "Girls, who do you think is going to win?"

"Inferno's proved that he can win a strength challenge, but I'm sure that's going to make Yori more determined." Liz pointed out. "I think it can go either way."

"I still think Inferno will win. He's still holding less weights than Yori." Edwina said.

"But it's only twenty pounds." Liz shrugged.

"Twenty pounds is twenty pounds." Edwina said. "It's still weight that Inferno doesn't have to hold up."

Suddenly, the three heard the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. Everyone looked to see who had dropped out.

Inferno's weights had hit the ground. Yori, although looking worn out, was still holding her weights off the ground.

"That's it the challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Yori wins the Final Immunity!"

Yori dropped his weights and cheered. "I did it! I actually did it!" She laughed.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Yori. You have a one-in-three shot at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he gave the necklace to Yori.

"I think we know who's strongest, now." Yori said.

SSBFreak looked at the other three players. "Yori is safe tonight, but I'll see all four of you tonight at Tribal Council, where one more of you will be voted out. Now you should be asking yourselves which of your opponents will give you an easier time going against in the finals, because tomorrow is the final day of the competition. You can all head back to camp."

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Yori won Immunity, which is both good and bad since Inferno doesn't have it, but neither do I." Liz said. "I need to convince her and Edwina to vote out Inferno. I've made it this far and I don't intend to go down without a fight."_

"We need to take out Inferno. For real, this time." Liz said to Yori.

Yori sighed. "Well, I need to decide which of the others is the better target." She said.

"Yori, your vote is crucial to me because I'M the one going against Inferno tonight and you guys were targeting ME." Liz reminded. "I'm not budging from my vote, but if you decide to vote another way, you'll be making things harder for yourself in the finals. If you vote me out, I can guarantee that you won't have votes from Tokyo, Luther or myself. I'll see to that."

"_Well, this is interesting. Because I have Immunity, Liz has been scrambling for my vote." Yori said. "I can vote her out and risk not getting enough votes from the jury to win, or I can vote Inferno out and take the biggest challenge threat out of the game."_

Meanwhile, Inferno was off at the shelter, talking to Edwina.

"Looks like this is it for me." Inferno said.

"Don't say that." Edwina said.

"Liz's voting for me and I know Yori will see me as a threat." Inferno shrugged. "I may as well accept it."

"Who said I would vote for you, though?"

"Who else?" Inferno said. "I'm the only logical choice."

"_Yeah, I know I'm pretty well eliminated by this point. Now that Yori's got Immunity, I'm sure that Liz will be making me the next available target." Inferno said. "I'm more amazed that she managed to pull it off because I was still holding up fewer weights than her. Even still, I consider that win a major fluke and an error on my part."_

"_Inferno's confident that he's gone, and now that I think about it, I'm not sure what else there is I can do." Edwina said. "I mean, Yori's the perfect goat, but Liz and Inferno are both jury threats, so who else can I vote for?"_

"Just don't count yourself out yet. Maybe something will happen." Edwina said.

"I'm not holding my breath." Inferno shrugged.

**(Tribal Council)**

The four finalists walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Seeing that there was only four stumps this time, they all sat down and waited for the council to start.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Mugg, Luther, Grace, Bianca, Carly and Tokyo, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Tokyo followed the near-completed jury into the hut. Tokyo was wearing a red and white samurai robe and no longer wearing his headband, but using an elastic to tie his spiky hair into a short ponytail. Everyone sat down on the jury benches.

"The jury is only here to see the outcome of the council. You are not to address them and they won't address you." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, Tokyo was voted out last time you were here. What made you guys target him?"

"Simply put, Tokyo Immunity to Liz." Edwina replied. "The two of them were allied and if we couldn't vote for her, we had to vote for him."

"So it wasn't anything personal?"

"Of course not. He was just literally the only logical target."

"At least she's honest." Tokyo said flatly.

"Inferno, you were rivals with Tokyo. Do you regret voting him out?" SSBFreak asked.

"It had to be done. He and I couldn't go at each other for the entire game." Inferno said. "But he was the biggest threat there and I didn't have a lot of options then."

"What other options were there?"

"I don't see Edwina as that big of a threat and none of us are worried about Yori at all."

Yori folded her arms. "Something you want to add, Yori?" SSBFreak asked.

"People keep disregarding me as someone that can play the game. Quite frankly, it insults me." Yori explained.

"You haven't been playing the game that well." Edwina piped up.

"Of course I have. You guys just don't want to admit it."

"She's only half-right." Grace noted.

"But isn't not being considered a threat a good thing?" SSBFreak asked.

"Yes, but it won't help me win. People need to see that I've worked to make it this far." Yori said.

"Edwina, how do you think the vote will go tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"Well, the original plan was to vote out Liz, she's been pitching out thoughts to vote out someone else non-stop since Yori won Immunity." Edwina said.

"Why isn't she saying the name? We all know who she's talking about." Luther pointed out.

"Liz, what are your thoughts for tonight's vote?" SSBFreak asked.

"I have indeed been trying to get the others to vote with me just once." Liz explained. "Only time will tell if it worked."

"So you don't feel comfortable then. Who will you be voting for?"

"I can't speak for the others, but I'm voting for Inferno." Liz said. "I feel that he's the biggest threat, both physically and jury-wise, and I don't think any of us will have a chance against him."

"Do you have a retort, Inferno?" SSBFreak asked.

"Not really." Inferno shrugged. "I mean, I think I almost agree with her."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. Before I continued, I need to ask: Yori, will you be giving up Immunity?" SSBFreak asked.

"Nope. I'm keeping it."

"With that, Yori is safe and cannot be voted out. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, you're up."

Edwina got up and left to go to the table. She gave a sigh and wrote a name down. "I really don't think I have a choice." She lamented.

Liz wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I hope my scrambling has worked." She said, having voted for Inferno.

Inferno approached the table and showed his vote to the camera, revealing Liz's name. "I have to vote for someone. Maybe the others will vote for you as well." He said.

Yori looked to be in thought as she approached the table, but she still didn't take much time to write a name on her tablet and stick it in the urn.

Once all four players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Inferno." Inferno looked unfazed.

"Inferno." Again, Inferno shrugged it off.

"…Liz." Liz didn't move or even blink. "Last vote, seventh and final member of the jury and fifteen person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Inferno. You need to bring me your torch."

Inferno nodded and stood up. "I had a feeling it would go this way." He said as he approached the host with his torch.

"Inferno, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Inferno's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Just so you guys know, no one has my vote cemented yet." Inferno called out as he left the hut and vanished from sight.

Once Inferno was gone, SSBFreak turned to the survivors. "And then there were three. Congratulations on making it the entire competition, because tomorrow is Day 39." He explained. "Your fate is now out of your hands and rests in the hands of the seven jury members you had a hand in voting out. They will decide which of you will win the million dollars at the end, but now you must decide how you will answer their questions. For now, you can all head back to camp."

The final three stood up, grabbed their torches and left Tribal Council. All three of them were pleased that they had made it as far as they did, but the biggest thing on their minds at the moment was anticipating questions from the jury so they'd know how to answer them. After all, a million dollars was at stake…

"_I'm a little let down that I didn't make it the entire way through the competition despite getting eliminated one day before the finale." Inferno said. "But the one person I didn't want to win Immunity won it in the end, so my fate was pretty much out of my hands at that point. I don't have any regrets on how I played, because I made it 38 days."_

**Voting History:**

**Inferno – Edwina, Liz and Yori**

**Liz – Inferno**

Author's Note: I'll admit that, during planning phases, Inferno was one of the people I was considering as a winner, but when I started planning events, I saw that he was way too big of a character and was far too visible. That being said, I enjoyed writing for him, so I had him last as long as I could make him.


	16. Day 39

**(Kalepa Tribe)**

"_Well, Inferno's gone. He was one of my oldest allies and someone I really didn't want to go against like that, but he's gone." Liz said. "I'm just glad it's all over now, because all I have to do now is worry about the Final Tribal Council and getting the votes of undecided jurors."_

"And so ends the last elimination of the season." Liz said with a smirk.

"That wasn't as gripping as I thought." Edwina noted. "Even Inferno seemed to know he was going."

"Well, he didn't really make the attempt to save himself." Yori shrugged. "He doesn't have anyone to blame but himself."

"I guess so."

"_I tried to convince Inferno to fight to stay in the game, but he didn't seem interested. It was like he knew he was gone the instant Yori won Immunity." Edwina said. "I feel that he seemed to just give up too easily after everything he's done in the game, but maybe he just plain ran out of ideas."_

"I guess that just leaves us, though." Liz said. "We're the final three and tomorrow the last day of the contest."

"I know. We're facing the jury tomorrow. I can't wait." Edwina said. "I'm living the dream right now."

"It'll be interesting to see what they have to say, but that's not for another day." Yori said. "For now, we should probably just head to bed and prepare for council tomorrow."

"I'm with you. One last sleep in the shelter and the contest will be done." Liz nodded.

"Yeah. We may as well just go to sleep and worry about things later." Edwina agreed.

"_It will be interesting facing the jury tomorrow. I did a lot to make it this far, but I'm sure the jury will have trouble seeing things my way." Yori said. "Looking at my competition, I'm feeling fairly confident that I can get a few undecided votes to back me, but we obviously won't know until tomorrow."_

The final three, knowing that tomorrow was the most-important day of the contest, decided to go to bed and face the day head on…

**(Kalepa Tribe; Day 39)**

"_I made it the entire way through the competition, which is something I would normally only dream of doing." Edwina said. "When I entered this, I had my fingers crossed that I'd at least make the jury, but now I'm in the finals and I'll be ANSWERING the questions instead of asking them."_

Edwina walked over to Yori, whom was putting out the remainders of last night's fire in the fire pit. "So what's you strategy for going against the jury?" She asked.

"What do you mean?" Yori asked.

"Come on. It's obvious you aren't the favourite going into Tribal Council, so how do you intend to get enough votes to win?" Edwina continued.

Yori gave a shrug. "Hey. I've played a better strategic game than you and Liz combined. It shouldn't take much to get the jury to see that." She replied.

"_I made it this far despite constantly being a target. That should give me a little advantage at Tribal Council." Yori said with a smirk. "I don't know if it'll work, but it's something I can use to my advantage and you can be sure that I'll use it."_

"Just remember that I'm not holding anything back." Edwina shook her head. "We may have been somewhat aligned at the end, but I still think you're a terrible person."

"Okay. Now I know I can hold nothing back either." Yori said with a smirk.

Liz wandered through the camp and watched the exchange between the two Sa'zan girls from afar. She shook her head, not wanting to get involved. After all, she had a little advantage over the two others that she didn't want to tell them about.

"_Going into the final Tribal Council, the girls will be targeting each other. However, they'll have a harder time attacking me because they never knew me until the merge." Liz said with a smirk. "Because of that, I may be able to slip under their radars and give my two-cents without them taking advantage of it."_

"I don't know what Yori's done pre-merge, but Edwina will likely take care of that." Liz mused to himself. "The same thing with Edwina. I just need to try and remember that they were capable of post-merge."

Liz walked up to the treemail box and checked inside, finding a letter inside. "Well, this is it." He said as he turned around and walked back to camp. "Looks like we've got treemail, girls." He announced.

"Time for the Final Tribal Council." Edwina said as she approached.

"Looks like it. It's congratulating us on making it this far and it's telling us to just go to Tribal Council." Liz read.

"Well, that's that. The contest is finished." Yori nodded. "Shall we head out?"

"You guys want to take down the shelter?" Liz asked.

"Nah. I want to go to Tribal Council and get started." Edwina said. "I'm really looking forward to this."

Deciding to leave their camp intact, the three players left the camp for the last time and started their trek to Tribal Council.

"_I've made the finals, and now I have a one-in-three chance in winning the entire game." Edwina said. "I'm not going to pull any punches because I want this win badly. I'm confident that I have a good chance, but I don't want to be too confident."_

"_I need to choose my words wisely. Edwina and Yori will go after each other. That much I know." Liz folded her arms. "But I need to make sure I at least stay in focus at Tribal Council, so if I attack someone, I need to do it carefully."_

"_I know I played a better game than both Edwina and Liz, but I can see how some people may be bitter." Yori pointed out. "However, if I can convince people that I played a better game, then I may get some votes. Time to unleash all the ammo…"_

**(Final Tribal Council)**

The final three entered Tribal Council for the last time, still carrying their torches. Knowing that they wouldn't be needing them anymore, they put them in holsters at the entrance as they came in. There were only three stumps left, and the finalists sat down in an alphabetic line.

"I'd like to begin by congratulating you three again for making the finals. In a moment, a vote will be cast to determine which of you three will be awarded the million dollar prize and title of Sole Survivor. However, the people that will be deciding which of you gets it will be the seven members of our jury." SSBFreak said. "Mugg, Luther, Grace, Bianca, Carly, Tokyo and Inferno, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Inferno followed everyone into the hut, completing the jury. He was still wearing his white coat, but had changed into a pair of white pants and platform shoes, complete with a red ascot. His unusual blue hair remained untouched. The seven jury members sat down on the bench to the side.

"In a moment, they will ask you three questions as to why they should vote for you or to make up some undecided minds. However, before we get to that, I'll have each of you plead your case to them, telling them why you deserve the million and what your strategies were." SSBFreak said. "As always, we'll go alphabetically. Edwina, would you start?"

Edwina nodded. "Doing something like this is a dream come true for a superfan like me. Coming into this, I wanted to go as far as I could on my knowledge of the game. Because I'm a fan, I was able to figure out what types of strategies the other big players were using and I could pinpoint the flaws they had." She said. "I was hoping to at least make the merge and vote for the winner, but when I saw that everyone except me was getting targeted, I decided to lay low and hope my name didn't come up, which it didn't. I believe I deserve the win because I was able to surpass all expectations of me by lasting as long as I did going just on my knowledge of the game, and unlike the other two finalists, I didn't scheme behind anyone's backs."

"Will you go next, Liz?"

"Starting the game, I was more of a follower than a leader. Grace took me into her alliance and I helped her as much as I could back on Malabar. However, that was before we got separated at the dissolve. Then I got to know some of the others on my own and started to become more of an independent player." Liz said. "I even befriended someone who was on the opposite alliance as me when we started. However, as time went by, I started losing allies until I was pretty much by myself in the Final Four. However, I still managed to overcome that and make it here. I think that's one of the reasons I deserve the million, but another could be that, after I started going out on my own, I became my own person and started making my own moves."

"Yori, would you finish?"

"My main plan coming into the game was to get rid of all threatening alliances, and my tribe had TWO almost right from the start, and the remainders joined forces once they got separated from their partners. I was a target at almost every Tribal Council after Renaldo went, but I played the game in a way that made people see me as a goat. Heck, people told me to my FACE that I was a goat." Yori pointed out. "That being said, people finally disregarded me altogether and focused on bigger threats, which was key to me getting here and taking out all of the alliances I could. I know a lot of you are mad at me, but when you think about it, you can't deny that I played a far better game and I deserve the win."

"Three different pleas, so we've got some work to do. It is now time for the jury members to ask questions. They will step up in no particular order and one at a time." SSBFreak said. "Luther, would you start us off?"

The executioner got up and walked over to where the finalists sat. "Okay. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that a lot has happened over the past month. In fact, I don't think many people were expecting all three of you to make it this far." He pointed out. "So I'll get right to the chase. When would you say your game started picking up for real?"

"After Renaldo got eliminated." Edwina said. "If he didn't get hurt, I would have gone, and I wanted to make sure that he didn't get eliminated in vain."

"Okay. Liz?"

"After the tribes dissolved." Liz said. "I learned to play my own game and I managed to connect with a few unlikely people."

"Yori?"

"I would think that it was around the merge since everyone was gunning for me." Yori said. "Before that, I was sailing through the game and my name hadn't come up once."

"Thank you. I got what I wanted." Luther nodded. "I'm done over here."

"Tokyo, will you go next?"

The ninja got up and approached the finalists. "Well, I guess I can congratulate you guys for making it here, although the amount of praise varies between you." He said. "However, I'm here to ask all three of you the same question: Why should we NOT vote for the other two finalists?"

"I can't really say much about Yori that none of you already know. She's backstabbed people, some in her own alliances, and she even said herself that her main plan was to decimate all alliances. I would probably call her the most-ruthless person ever to play." Edwina pointed out. "As for Liz, she didn't really do anything I can remember being of any importance. I mean, she was responsible for some good moves, but they were all borderlined on sneaky and Yori's plans were far worse. I can't really think of any reason she stands out."

Tokyo lifted an eyebrow, but chose not to press matters. "Liz?"

"Edwina's been so excited to play the game, but post-merge, she just sailed by under everyone's radars without doing a whole lot. The most-important thing she did was tell me about the things Grace wasn't telling me." Liz said. "Like Edwina said, Yori's been ruthless since the start and you all know she never really stuck with a side she chose when they came to her to save her from elimination. Think about it. We could have taken her out anytime, but we knew she'd be perfect to take to the end."

Giving a nod, Tokyo turned to the last person. "How about you, Yori?"

"Well, I've known Edwina longer than most of you, and let me say that pre-merge she didn't do a whole lot either. A lot of the moves were coming from either me or from Bianca's alliance. Edwina and Renaldo didn't do much besides surprise us all with the idol." Yori supplied. "And then Liz, who apparently considers herself a smart player when, compared to things that others have done here, I wouldn't call some of her moves smart, especially since the only reason she's here at all is because you stupidly gave her Immunity."

"I risked a lot with that move and it didn't pay off." Tokyo shrugged. "I'm done."

"Grace, will you go next?"

Grace got up and approached. "I have to say that I'm a little disappointed here. I mean, the vote will be easy, but even then I'm a little let down." She said. "Yori, I have nothing to say to you since you're not getting my vote."

"Fine." Yori shrugged.

"I mean, you're a terrible person and were only here to look out for yourself. I won't deny that I did a few underhanded things here, but I did them all for the benefit of my alliance rather than just myself." Grace snapped. "You had the gall to try and keep an injured player, voted out people on your own alliance and flip-flopped between targets without making any commitments! How would you even think you would get votes for that?"

"You sure are saying a lot for someone that doesn't have anything to say to me." Yori said with a smirk.

Grace paused a moment, then sighed. "Fine. Edwina, you may have been an ally, but I'm not sure yet if you have my vote. I want to make sure you answer a question." She said. "What sets you apart from the other finalists?"

"Unlike the others, I came here for the experience at first, but when I realized that I had a chance at winning, I stepped up my game." Edwina replied. "However, I did it in a way that didn't make anyone mad or betray anyone. Yori and even Liz played games that got numerous people mad at them."

"Good answer." Grace said as she turned. "I think the point's been made. I'm done."

"Inferno?"

The blue-haired man got up and walked over to the finalists. "Okay. I know who I'm going to vote for, but I still have a few questions to ask." He said. "Edwina, I don't have anything for you."

"That's fine."

"Liz, we were allies at the start, and we ended up drifting apart due to circumstances out of our control." Inferno said. "Just out of curiosity, if there was the option to join me in an alliance, would you have done so?"

"I don't know, to be honest. I mean, you were focusing a lot of attention to helping Carly." Liz said. "You may have ignored me altogether like Grace did."

"Okay. I respect your answer, although I'm not sure if it would have actually happened that way." Inferno shrugged. "Yori, I don't agree with your style of play."

"What do you mean?" Yori asked.

"Grace pretty much covered it. You backstabbed several people, and from what she said, you tried to keep an injured player that needed help." Inferno pointed out. "That can be considered near unforgivable."

"Don't act like you're clean either, pal." Yori said. "You worked your way around multiple targets against you to survive another day, even if it meant targeting someone that didn't really need to go yet."

"Hey. I played the game legally."

"So did I. I didn't get ejected from the game for using strategy." Yori shrugged.

Inferno sighed, realizing that he wouldn't be getting anywhere anytime soon. "I'm finished over here." He said as he returned to his seat.

"Carly, would you go next?"

The redhead muppet got up and walked over. "Hey, guys. I'm actually a bit surprised I'm looking at all three of you right now. Quite frankly, I was expecting a different final three." She explained. "Anyway, down to business. Is there anything you did in this game that you regret looking back on it?"

"I wanted to do more pre-merge and get a bigger alliance early on. That way, Renaldo and I would have been able to survive the entire way to the merge." Edwina said. "The reason I didn't do that was because it would make me a big target later on, and if I got targeted, I probably wouldn't be here."

"Okay. How about you, Liz?"

"Not warning Mugg about the fake idol that Grace planted. Mind you, she never told me who picked it up in the first place, so I can't really do much about it." Liz said. "It would have kept an ally in the game and that was one of the things I wanted here."

"Yeah. You're probably right." Carly shrugged. "Yori?"

"Looking back, I suppose I seemed a little out of line when I suggested we keep Renaldo. However, my opinion still stands in that he would have recovered quickly." Yori said. "His injury was minor enough to allow him to go on the reward trip with Edwina, so he could have managed."

"I don't know of the event you're talking about, but according to Bianca and Grace, I don't think I agree with you." Carly said. "I'm done though. That's all I've got."

"You're next, Mugg."

Mugg nodded and got up to approach the finalists. "Now, since I've been on the jury the longest, I think I've got an idea on how I'm going to vote, but I need to make sure." He said. "Edwina, what would you say was the high point in your game?"

"There have been two instances that come to mind. First was when Renaldo and I found the immunity idol at our camp. We used it when we didn't need to, but I still think finding it was an amazing feat." Edwina replied. "Other than that, there was the fact that I won Immunity over both Inferno and Tokyo. Granted, it was a trivia challenge about Survivor, but the fact remained that I still did it."

"Okay. How about you, Liz?"

"The highest point in my game would probably be proving to Grace that I'm not made for blindly following her ideas without being told anything." Liz said. "I think I proved to myself that I was capable of being my own person."

"Okay. I think my mind's made up." Mugg said. "I'm done."

"Bianca, would you finish?"

The bianky stood up and approached the finalists. "I don't really have any questions, but I'd just like to say my piece." She said. "I think all of us have come a long way since the start, some more so than others, but the biggest question remains is if we ended up with an ideal final three. For the most part, I'd say that the answer is no."

"What about me?" Edwina asked.

"I'm getting to it. Yori, I don't really think there's anything that needs to be said. You bent the rules to your advantage and swapped alliances at every turn." Bianca said. "Even to a henchman, I'd say that's pretty low. None of us could stand you when you showed us how you were willing to play, and the only reason you're here at all is because no one wanted to vote out the goat."

"I played the goat because I knew none of you would take me to the end either way." Yori said. "If I played the game normally and stuck with normal strategy, you would have eliminated me for being a threat."

"And you drove yourself far into the ground with your actions. Too far for anyone to pull you out of." Bianca said as she turned to Liz. "I don't even remember some of the things you did, Liz. You say you made a lot of big moves, but when compared to Yori's diabolical moves, they just didn't stand out."

"That was kinda my plan. I wanted to make the moves after I was given the chance, but not make people angry." Liz shrugged.

"Well, you must not have made the moves big enough, because I still can't remember them." Bianca said. "Edwina, you're the only one here I'd say deserves to be here. You played the game a fan would play, and you managed to make it to the end without making anyone mad. If this game was entirely-based on being social, then you have both your opponents beat. This is what you did wrong, though. You didn't make any moves, at least compared to the others. While I think that will cost you in some people's eyes, I hope that your social game is enough to win over the votes of enough people to win."

With that, Bianca turned and returned to her seat. "I'm finished."

Once Bianca was seated again, SSBFreak spoke. "These seven jury members will shortly be voting for one of the three of you for who they decide is most-worthy to win the million dollar prize and title of Sole Survivor. To all three finalists, I hope you plead your cases well, because it all comes down to this. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Mugg, you're up."

Mugg got up and walked out of the hut to go vote. "My mind's made up. I know who I'm voting for." He said as he wrote a name down.

Luther wrote a name down. "You played a good game and you answered the questions the right way. Good job." He said as he put the ballot into the urn.

Grace approached the table and quickly wrote a name down. "It's not even a hard choice. I just hope she wins." She said as she put the vote in the urn and left.

Bianca scribbled a name down and showed it to the camera. "We were aligned most of the game. I hope you win and finish what you started." She said, having voted for Edwina.

Carly paused for a moment as she tried to decide on a vote. She finally made up her mind and wrote a name down. "I hope I'm doing the right thing." She mused.

Tokyo was smirking as she wrote a name down and showed it. "The others were trying to sway my vote, but it didn't stick and I'm still voting my way." He said, having voted for Liz.

Inferno approached and wrote a name down, taking considerably-less time to make up his mind than the others. "I knew who was getting my vote as soon as I got the boot." He said.

After all seven jury members had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it after a few moments. "The jury has now voted for one of you to win the game. All seven votes are cast and the votes will be counted to name one of you three the winner." He said. "Unfortunately, I'm not going to do that here, but at the reunion in a few months."

"Like always." Liz mused with a smirk.

"So to our finalists: Edwina, Liz and Yori, and the members of the jury, I thank you for giving us another great season of Survivor. I will see you in four months, where we will announce the winner, but until then…" SSBFreak said as he pulled an old-looking ring from his pocket. "…Farewell!"

SSBFreak slipped the ring onto his finger and suddenly vanished from sight, turning invisible. However, the urn of votes didn't vanish and floated in the air. Everyone in the hut watched as the urn casually floated out of the hut, meaning the invisible host had simply walked out.

"Uh…I don't recall there being a Lord of the Rings character this season." Edwina said as she looked at the other finalists.

She didn't get an answer, because Liz and Yori were too dumbstruck. Liz finally slapped a hand on her forehead.

**(Reunion)**

The Final Tribal Council had just finished playing on a big screen TV, which was set upon a large stage in front of a cheering audience. On the stage were the host, the finalists and the jury, whom had just finished watching the council on the screen. The final three were sitting on three stools while the jury members were sitting on a couple of benches off to the side.

Edwina was wearing a dark green one-piece dress that went down to her feet, and a light beige jacket over it. Her pink heart headphones, which she had worn throughout the entire game, were still adorning her head. She was wearing a pair of what looked like heeled sandals and people could see a notebook sticking out of one of her jacket pockets.

Liz now had some orange highlights in her red hair and was wearing a purple tank-top, revealing a star tattoo on her shoulder. Her earrings were now in the shape of lightning bolts, her jeans looks ripped in a couple of places and she was wearing a few necklaces and bracelets, as if she had just come from a rock concert.

Yori looked like she was wearing a futuristic suit of armour. The blueish-gray armour covered her entire body save for her head and robotic arm, and her ponytail was undone. Yori had gotten a haircut and was now sporting short hair as opposed to long. Other than that, she looked relatively the same.

"Welcome to the reunion of Survivor: Central Hub. With me are the three finalists: Edwina, Liz and Yori, and the jury of seven, whom have already cast their votes. In a moment, one of these three people will be awarded the cash prize and the right to be called Sole Survivor." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, how was life back home after the show?"

"It took me a bit to get used to life again, especially after doing Survivor for a month." Edwina nodded. "Still, things are going back to normal for me now that the feeling of actually doing this has worn down a little bit."

"Yori, how did people react to your gameplan back home?"

"They were surprised I was capable of the things I did. Back home, I'm a field agent, so no one's really seen me in action when I'm not armed with a weapon." Yori explained. "While I admit that I got some flak for some of the things I did, a lot of the feedback I got was relatively good."

"Liz, how much different is life at home compared to the game?"

"Not as different as you may think. I mean, I'm used to living on the edge with me being in a rock band. I've been to some dingy motels that made our tribes look sanitary by comparison." Liz shrugged. "That being said, I did some things out on the island that I would likely never do in real life."

"Such as?"

"Well, constructing the shelter helped. I've never really been a builder and doing that made me feel out of place a bit."

"Edwina, how did people react when they saw that you made the finals?"

"They were surprised and excited, because I come from a little circle of friends that are just as big of fans of the show as I am." Edwina said. "They were beyond elated and extremely happy for me when they saw that I ended up making the finals."

"Okay. One more question for all of you. How do you think your chances are?" SSBFreak asked.

"It'll be close. I know that." Edwina said.

"Yeah. There's only seven votes." Liz agreed.

"It could go any way, to be frank." Yori shrugged.

"Well, I think I've put this off long enough. I'd say that it's time to read the votes." SSBFreak said as he reached for the urn. "Remember that, unlike other times, you actually want to see your name on these ballots. Whoever has the most votes will be declared Sole Survivor. After four months, it's time to read the votes…"

"Good luck guys." Edwina said cheerfully.

"Yeah. You too." Liz replied. Yori remained silent, but nodded.

"…First vote; Edwina." "Awesome!"

"Liz." "That would be Tokyo." Liz said.

"Liz. He now leads." "That was probably Mugg…"

"Edwina. We're tied again." Edwina bit her lip and clenched her hands.

"Liz. He leads again." Liz was starting to sweat nervously.

"Edwina." Edwina took a deep breath.

"…Here's where we stand. Edwina and Liz are tied with three votes each while Yori has yet to get a vote. There is one vote left." SSBFreak said. "If the vote's for Yori's we'll have a tie." He paused to look at the final vote. "It's not for Yori. She's the sixteenth person voted out of the game."

"So people voted emotionally." Yori muttered.

Edwina and Liz glanced at each other, realizing that the vote had come down to one ballot.

"…Final vote, Sole Survivor, and winner of Survivor: Central Hub 3…"

The finalists waited in anticipation, wondering who the vote was for.

The jury looked almost as nerve-wracked as the finalists did, but remained to themselves.

The audience held their breath…

"…LIZ!" SSBFreak announced.

Liz's eyes widened. "Wait! I…I did it? I won?" She asked. "I…I can't believe it!"

"Way to go, Liz!" Edwina cheered, throwing her arms around Liz in a hug.

"You played a good game. I'll admit it." Yori gave a shrug and clapped.

The audience erupted in cheers once Liz's name was read. The redhead rocker cheered loudly and pumped her fists into the air several times. She leapt from her seat and raced down to meet with her family and friends, who were in the front row, cheering for her. After a few moments of celebration, Liz returned to the stage.

"Alright! Way to go, Liz!" Mugg cheered.

"She did it! Amazing!" Tokyo agreed.

Grace sighed. "Well, at least it was my old partner that won."

Inferno shrugged. "Yeah. Can't really complain here." He admitted.

"Members of the jury, why don't you come over and join the celebration?" SSBFreak asked.

None of the jury members argued and they all got up and ran across the stage to congratulate the finalists. People gathered around all three of the final players to give their two cents.

"In fact, why don't we bring out all eighteen players and make it a full reunion?" SSBFreak said as the pre-merge boots, Claire, Det, Wilson, Pierre, Lucy, Fleecy, Renaldo and Kayo, emerged onto the stage and saw who had won. Most looked surprised at the outcome.

"Alright! Go, Liz!" Claire cheered.

"At least it was Yori." Fleecy noted.

Kayo sighed. "I'm never going to hear the end of this."

As the eighteen contestants congratulated each other and gave Liz praise for winning, SSBFreak looked at a nearby camera. "And so ends a third successful season of Survivor: Central Hub. Twists were thrown, backs were stabbed and plans were laid out in what may be our most-competitive cast yet. In the end, a jury threat emerged victorious over the others, surprising almost all of them." He said. "Liz proved that it was possible for someone to make it to the end despite being a jury threat. She just needed the right chances and the right ways to pull off the opportunities given to her. After everything was said and done, it worked, as Liz managed to outlast the seventeen other players to become this season's Sole Survivor."

Stepping further away from the celebration, SSBFreak gave a smirk. "This season is over, but join us next season, where twenty new fancharacters from different franchises will be competing against one another for a chance to win another million dollars. Join us then for season four of Survivor: Central Hub!"

**Voting Results:**

**Liz – Grace, Luther, Mugg and Tokyo**

**Edwina – Bianca, Carly and Inferno**

**Yori – NO VOTES**

Author's Notes: Another season is finished and it's time I got to work on the next. Out of the three seasons I've done so far, I think this was one of the best ones yet. I'm happy with the results and how I portrayed the important characters. Let's give a bit of a rundown on the finalists...

**Liz, the Winner...**

I wanted the winner to be different from the previous two. Ignoring the obvious fact that both Marty and Ruth are short compared to Liz, both Marty and Ruth were heavily shown throughout the season. When Liz had a big episode, it was BIG, but other times she just blended into the background a bit and let others do the work. This was easy to do since Inferno stole the show most of the season.

Another reason I had Liz win is because she balanced out the other two. Edwina was way too positive, Yori was way too negative and Liz was right up the middle. However, many of her story elements came up at the last minute: Such as her friendship with Mugg and Grace deserting her. In the planning stages, Liz wasn't originally going to win. However, when I decided on the story elements revolving around her, I realized that she'd probably be the best winner of the bunch and had her make it to the end.

Let's see...Oh, yeah. Liz also existed pre-story. I created Liz years ago and when I found the original sketch of her I did when I was young, I knew I had a Parappa fancharacter. The only other pre-existing characters this time were Inferno, Tokyo and Claire (both of whom spawned from the RPG idea I was toying with).

**Edwina, the Superfan...**

I loved writing for Edwina. She was by far one of my favourite characters this season. However, even though she wasn't that complex of a character, I'd say that she went through almost as much character development as Liz did. She started out as an overly-excited fan living the dream of playing the game for real, and then used her knowledge of the game to help her and her ally get ahead and survive votes.

After Renaldo left, Edwina started emerging as a character, as if she had been hit with a wave of reality. She started playing a little more-seriously, and was responsible for telling Liz that Grace was ignoring her to begin with.

That being said, I always planned for Edwina to take second place, so that's why she was never really that complex of a character. Like I said, she was still one of my favourites of the season and I probably would have liked her less if she suddenly started thinking like a strategy-bot.

**Yori, the Supervillain...**

Yori was entertaining to write for, but I know a lot of your guys don't like her. I want to keep my villains different and unique, and after Molly, I was having trouble finding a good strategy for Yori. However, I think her living off of the conflict of others was a good idea for a villain's main strategy and it indeed helped her go further.

However, it did nothing for her social game. I wanted the vote in the finals to be 4-3-0, and Yori was LITERALLY the only one post-merge that wouldn't get any votes. Even Mugg would have gotten a vote or two. With this revelation, I needed Yori to make the finals, but crash and burn there and lose any hope of getting jury votes.

I know you guys were waiting for an epic blindside late in the game, but like I said, Yori was the only one here that wouldn't get any votes...

**Pierre's Idol...**

I said in the cast releases that Pierre was responsible for one of my favourite parts of the season, and people eventually assumed that he would be brought back on a Reward trip and give the real idol he took with him to whoever brought him. However, while that seems like a good idea, I'm not sure if it's allowed since the idol was taken out of the game.

No. My favourite part concerning Pierre? His fake idol was eventually responsible for tearing apart Liz and Grace's alliance almost two weeks after he left. So, while it seems that Pierre ended up getting the last laugh, Liz still ended up winning, so maybe he didn't after all...

**Next Season...**

Two episodes for season four are complete. I'm positive that I made the right casting choices here and I hope that the wait for next season won't be as long as it was for this one. Here's what you can expect...

- 20 fancharacters on two tribes, everyone with different personalities.  
- Three characters that were originally from Survivor: Fan Characters.  
- Exile Island and an idol that is planted there every time it's used.  
- A lot of blindsides.  
- One word: Ponderosa.


End file.
